A Time To Change
by IMySpyEye
Summary: Naruto was in a bad place in his life. Was it about to change? Is it for the better? Did it really have to be his boss? SasuNaru Naruto blinked and tried pleading this time, "Mr. Uchiha, please let me go" Mr. Uchiha sighed and pulled Naruto up, making him straddle the taller man, "Fine. Call me Sasuke and give me a kiss"
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Warning:** Sad Naruto (initally), implied SaiNaru

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><p>Naruto stood rooted to the spot near his doorway. The same spot he has been standing in for the last five minutes, watching his boyfriend of two years thrusting into some girl on <strong>their<strong> bed.

The figures had stopped moving and were now panting. Naruto finally, finally found his voice, "Sai?" He hated how broken he sounded. Sai, his cheating pig of a boyfriend sat up, revealing the girl's nude body. Naruto looked away, feeling shame for the girl. The girl clearly, had none of her own. She simply luxuriated on the bed, trailing one of her long legs against his boyfriend's side.

Naruto felt his throat close up, so he let his eyes speak for him, show Sai how betrayed he felt._ Two years Sai. How could you do this to me._ Naruto felt tears well up in his eyes when his boyfriend showed absolutely no signs of guilt. He didn't even get up from the bed. Naruto let his eyes shift to the girl, the one who had stolen his happiness. He knew her. She lived in the same apartment building. Ino Yamanaka, a very pretty platinum blonde with almond shaped light blue eyes, which she used to ogle his boyfriend with.

The girl smirked at him. Naruto felt so stupid. He should have seen this coming. She was always hanging around Sai, making up excuses a five year old could see though. But he had been confident that Sai, as emotionally retarded as he was, would never ever cheat on him. He had trusted him. _How could you Sai._

Naruto closed his eyes before asking his question, "How long?" It was Ino who answered, "six months". Naruto opened his eyes to see her smug expression. He turned his disbelieving eyes to Sai, "You've been cheating on me during one fourth of the time we've been together?"

Again, it was Ino who spoke, "Fucking. We've been fucking for one-fourth of that time. We have been kissing for a lot longer"

Naruto looked at his boyfriend, wanting to know how he could justify his actions. How could he hurt him for such a long time, all the while professing that his affections belonged to Naruto alone.

When his boyfriend merely gave a shrug as an answer, Naruto snapped. He nearly screamed, anger, shame and sadness overwhelming him, "You ungrateful ass. I paid for all your paints and brushes. Every hour I could spare, I spent in that damn office just to pay for all your crap" Naruto was nearly hysterical at this point, he was well aware of it, but just didn't care. _How could you_.

He took a deep breath. Naruto did not want to have a breakdown in front of that – that – floozy and his lying, cheating asshole of a boyfriend. He pressed the palm of his hand over his forehead, trying to subdue the pounding headache, "Leave. Both of you just leave" he looked at Sai, "I don't want to see you. I will leave your things outside. You can pick them up later"

Sai finally spoke, "Babe, come on. Don't you think you're overreacting?" Naruto, who had his eyes closed again, snapped them open in shock, "Overreacting?" He yelled, "You've been cheating on me for over half a year."

Sai looked back at Naruto with a blank stare, "Are you asking me to move out?" Naruto looked that the ceiling for help. He couldn't believe he thought that he loved this man, "I'm telling you to get out"

Ino got up after wrapping a sheet around herself. She picked up her clothes from the floor, grabbed Sai's arm and dragged him out. Just before they crossed the door, Sai turned back and gave one last barb,"You were a sucky cook anyway"

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><p>Naruto had to drag himself to work the next day. He had refused to cry over that farce of a relationship. He stopped thinking about it. Watched TV, ordered in lots of food, ate every piece of candy in the refrigerator, cleaned the whole apartment. He basically did anything and everything he could to not think about how horrible his life was at that point.<p>

He never really knew his parents. They had passed away before he could even speak. He had been juggled from foster home to foster home, before finally being adopted by a kind school teacher. Now, he was part of a corporate jungle, struggling to survive among predators. And he had a cheating ex-boyfriend as the cherry on top.

Naruto sighed, sitting behind his desk. The same desk he had when he joined Hebi corporations. Back then, his job had involved mindless paper pushing. Doing the work that overflowed from everybody else's desk. But then, for some reason, he was made the personal secretary of Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke Uchiha was what one would call an enigma. No one knew much about him, even Naruto who happened to be the one who spent the most time with him. The man's entire family had been killed in a bomb blast. Not even his fortune had remained when he lost that too in a corruption scandal. The entire Uchiha legacy was tarnished and completely ruined.

That was until Sasuke Uchiha came back. He single handedly created Hebi corporations, one of the most powerful companies in the world. Naruto had admired the Uchiha heir ever since he had heard about him. They were so similar – orphaned at such a young age, faced betrayals, abandoned time and time again. Sasuke Uchiha had bounced back, taking the corporate world in storm. Just about every rival who had taken joy in the Uchiha family's destruction, were now vying for a chance to partner with the last remaining member.

At such a young age, he was easily one of the most powerful men in the country. He was also, being exceedingly handsome, the most sought after men in the country. Numerous women, beautiful and elegant, powerful and eloquent were continually trying to nab him as their boyfriend or husband. And there was never a dearth of fans trying to get his attention. Naruto, in the privacy of his mind, had admitted his own feelings of adoration toward his boss.

Although that did not stop the twinge of annoyance at his boss's unbelievably demanding schedule which in turn translated into Naruto's unbelievably demanding schedule. Sasuke Uchiha did not like to waste time. And apparently had to drag Naruto along for the ride.

Naruto massaged his temples, maybe if he had spent more time with Sai. No, the jerk had stated cheating on him even before Naruto had become the secretary and had taken on the larger workload. He was startled out of his musings when the phone rang, he picked it up. It was Mr. Uchiha, with his usual pithy commands. Naruto got up, he had been summoned.

He got many an evil eye on the way to 's cabin. Many of his co-workers, especially the women, hadn't been particularly happy when Naruto was made the new secretary, the most coveted job in the office. Naruto could understand their anger, since he got the job after just twenty months - duration far lesser than most other people there. But they didn't have to be so mean about it. They called him the boss's pet.

"Going in to service the boss?" the snide remark had come from one Sakura Haruno, the office beauty. She had been the frontrunner for the post of Mr. Uchiha's personal secretary. She had considered it the first step in her becoming Mrs. Uchiha. She now blames Naruto for crushing her dreams. Naruto had often wished to point out that Mr. Uchiha did not actually know of her existence, but he wasn't cruel enough to do that.

Naruto continued walking, ignoring the giggles and sniggers that followed. He pushed open the sturdy wooden door, which had been a flimsy glass one a couple of months back. Mr. Uchiha, as usual was terribly busy, with a phone at one ear and the screens of both his laptop and the computer on his desk filled with graphs and numbers.

He signaled Naruto to wait, so Naruto busied himself with looking around the cabin. A cabin which had originally been sparsely furnished and utilitarian in appearance was now more welcoming, with a rather large couch with a lot of plush cushions. He wished to sit on it one day, to find out if it really was as comfortable as it looked.

Naruto had often wondered what had made his stoic boss change his part time dwelling so drastically. He never could understand why Mr. Uchiha had out of the blue decided to make so many changes at the same time, right around the time of Naruto's own job change in fact. Naruto had decided that it was just one more mystery to the dark haired man.

When Naruto looked at Mr. Uchiha's desk and saw the half-finished breakfast, he had to suppress a sigh. Honestly, the other man was simply too busy for his own good. It was nearing lunch, and he still hadn't eaten his breakfast. He turned his reproachful eyes to him, wishing he could reprimand the taller man. But he was still arguing heatedly with whoever was unfortunate enough to be on the other side of the phone call.

Naruto, starting to feel bored, took stock of Mr. Uchiha's appearance. He was leaning on his desk with black dress pants accentuating the long legs crossed in front of him and a dark blue shirt hugging his broad shoulders. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and one hand stuffed into his pocket. The shirt was tight around his muscled biceps.

Naruto looked away, blushing faintly. He hoped that his boss hadn't noticed him looking at him. He knew his boss was very attractive, no one could deny that. While Sai did have a passing resemblance to his boss, the latter was much more handsome than his ex-boyfriend. That did not mean that Naruto's affections had been half hearted. He truly had loved Sai, and trusted him. But apparently Sai hadn't loved him back. The thought immediately made Naruto sad and reminded him of the night before.

"Are you ill?"The question made Naruto snap his head up. He hadn't even realized that he was staring at the carpeted floor, also a new addition – his mind supplied.

Naruto's blush from before, made a reappearance on receiving Mr. Uchiha's full attention. He struggled to find a suitable reply. One that would assuage his intuitive boss's curiosity, "Just a headache "

The taller man hesitated but then seemed to accept the reply. He sat down behind his desk before posing his next question, "Do you need the day off?"

Naruto's eyes widened. It amazed him every time his emotionally stunted boss showed some consideration for him. He had yet to see it being shown to someone else. Naruto supposed it was another perk of being the personal secretary. He gave a small smile to show his gratitude, "No thank you sir, I'm fine"

Mr. Uchiha continued to look at him a little longer, and it made Naruto fidget. Mr. Uchiha, seeming to notice his discomfort turned his attention to his laptop before talking, "There is a business convention in Nice next week. Will you be able to accompany me?" He turned back to Naruto, swiveling his chair to face him, "I am going to need help managing all the adjoining meetings"

Naruto swallowed hesitating. This was not the first convention or overseas meeting or merger that his boss had asked him to join him on, but Naruto had almost never agreed to go. He hadn't wanted to strain his relationship with Sai. He had already been spending less and less time with his boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend, Naruto reminded himself angrily.

Naruto knew that his boss did require help planning the inconceivable number of meetings that always accompanied these tours. But even after Naruto turned down the request to join him, the Uchiha heir never asked anyone else to accompany him. He always went alone. Naruto felt guilty, his boss had shown him more loyalty than his own boyfriend had

With his face set in determination, Naruto looked at his boss, "Yes sir. I will accompany you"

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><p>He was in the restroom, after needing some time alone. He was extremely grateful to find the place empty. Thanking the universe for small mercies, he began splashing cold water over his face. Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time, wiping the water off his face with some paper towels. He found himself startled by a phone for the second time that day. Without checking the caller ID, he answered the call, relieved when it was Hinata.<p>

"Hello, Naruto?" The voice was hesitant.

Naruto smiled glad to be talking to his best friend, "Hi Hinata. What's up?"

Hinata ignored his question, "Are you ok? "

Naruto sighed. It seemed to be his day for sighing. "I'm fine" He was not surprised at Hinata finding out about his breakup. Every news that was any news seemed to reach his friend's ears at astonishing speed.

There was a pause, then, "I'm so sorry Naruto" Naruto could sense guilt in Hinata's voice. She had introduced Ino to them after all. Ino was Hinata's boyfriend's friend. Naruto replied quickly, "Don't be. It's not your fault that Sai's a cheating bastard"

And just like that his walls came down, and he choked on his words. Hinata sounded worried, "Naruto?"

Naruto couldn't hold back his sobs, "Six months Hinata. They've been sleeping together for six months"

"Naruto" The girl sounded sad, not knowing the words that would comfort her dear friend.

"He was lying all this time Hinata – " Naruto stopped talking when tears stated falling from his eyes. Once he had composed himself enough, he spoke again, "I have to go now, I call you back after I reach home"

He cut the call after his friend had agreed heavy heartedly. He placed his phone on the counter and splashed more water on his face. He froze when he looked into the mirror and saw his boss. He hadn't noticed him come inside or how much he had heard. He stood, not moving and not knowing how to react. But the other man simply washed his hands and went on his way.

Naruto was relieved. Talking to his boss about the pathetic state of his love life was not something he was looking forward to. Wiping his face once more, he left.

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><p>It was late. Very late. There had been more work than usual and he didn't notice the time. Before, he would have called Sai and apologizing profusely for being late. And after he went home, he would ignore his own exhaustion and let Sai have his way with him. Naruto pressed his right hand on his mouth. He wanted to scream. He remembered all the time they had spent together, the nights with Sai moving above him, inside him. All along, he had been sleeping with her. And along with that thought, came the images of the scene he had witnessed recently.<p>

She had been seducing his boyfriend and he did not notice, even though it was happening right under his nose, in his own home. His feelings of low self esteem rose up. After all these years of working hard, trying to prove to everybody around him that he was worthy of being among them. Even after getting a job at one of the most prestigious companies in the country, he still couldn't get away from feeling inadequate.

He got up and carried the last report to Mr. Uchiha's cabin. They were the only ones left in the office. He found himself in front of his boss, not even having realized opening the door, too absorbed in his own thoughts and hated self pity. Naruto hated this feeling. He hated feeling so unsure and insufficient. Unworthy.

"Uzumaki" He heard Mr. Uchiha's voice distantly. He swayed slightly on the spot, the sadness and exhaustion beginning to take over.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his boss, "Naruto?" That wasn't the first time he had heard Mr. Uchiha call him by his first name, but that was the first time it made him tear up. There was so much care and worry in that one word, he wondered why Sai never worried about him that much. He wondered if he cared about the beautiful blonde girl more than he did about Naruto, his supposed boyfriend. His ex-boyfriend.

Naruto hiccupped, one fat tear drop rolled down his cheek. He barely registered the warm hand against the side of his face, and the dark eyes looking down intently into his own. So it was understandable that it took him a little more time than expected to register the lips pressing against his. And when he did, he pulled back, startled and eyes wide.

"Mr. Uchiha?" He asked hesitantly. He thought that maybe in his grief, he was hallucinating. Naruto stood there, confused. He jolted when he found himself pulled tight against the taller man. One muscled arm holding him in place and the other lifting his face up by his chin. Those lips were pressed firmly on his, again.

After two seconds of shock, he placed both his hands on the other man's chest and shoved hard, thankful that the arm that had been holding him had loosened a little. Naruto kept walking back, keeping his eyes on the man in front of him. He couldn't understand what was happening. He flinched when his back hit the wall.

Mr. Uchiha walked toward him slowly, taking in Naruto's trembling form. Standing in front of Naruto, he leaned forward, placing his left forearm on the wall above Naruto's head. Using his other hand, he trailed a finger against Naruto's cheek. He leaned in, intending to kiss him again. Naruto quickly turned his head to the side. His boss kissed his cheek instead.

"M – Mr. Uchiha" Naruto head his voice break. He felt his head being turned to face the dark haired man.

Mr. Uchiha's voice seemed to be deeper than he remembered, "Call me Sasuke"

Naruto's mind seemed to have disappeared, he repeated, "Mr. Sasuke "

The man being addressed chuckled. Naruto was struck by the fact that he had never heard his boss laugh. He thought it sounded wonderful.

The deep voice was talking again, "Just Sasuke"

When Naruto hesitated, the other man teased him lightly, "Say it or I will kiss you again"

Naruto felt his ears burn, "Sa – Sasuke" It sounded foreign. He had never called his boss by his first name before. He had also never been kissed by his boss before, something which was happening for the fourth time today as he found his lips captured once more by his boss'.

When he was free to use his lips again, he mumbled, "You said you wouldn't kiss me if I called you Sasuke"

The other man smiled, "I changed my mind" Naruto's breath hitched. His boss looked gorgeous. He shook his head to rid himself of his silly thoughts and tried to step away. His plan was foiled when he was pulled up tight against his boss' form, both hands trapped between their chests. Those lips descended on his again, this time more confidently and less chaste.

His head was moved his way and that till it satisfied his boss. His boss, who was currently devouring his lips. He was trying to get Naruto to part his lips, with him steadily refusing to do so. Naruto felt a large hand squeeze his behind and squeaked, unwittingly giving his boss' evil tongue entry.

Naruto began to relax a little. He hadn't expected this to feel so nice. He closed his eyes and leaned against the taller man. Sai's kisses had never felt this good.

Naruto snapped his eyes open and struggled to break free. He stammered out, "wha – What are you doing?"

The man being addressed ran a hand through his hair, "I **was** kissing you. **Now** I am trying to convince you to let me continue" Naruto blinked and shook his head, "No. I – I have a boyfriend"

The man smirked, "Not anymore. You broke up" Naruto cringed inwardly, his boss had heard everything, "Yes, yesterday. You can't expect me to move on from a two year relationship in less than a day do you?"

The smirk never left, "Why not? He cheated on you, for the better part of a year. Clearly, he doesn't deserve you" Naruto had never felt humiliation, sadness and outrage at the same time. He did now. Mostly though, he was pissed off.

"That doesn't mean I'll sleep with you" His hands shook in anger, "This is sexual harassment" Naruto had thought that that would make the other man at least a little shocked. But he was wrong. His boss' smirk still lived on, "Are you going to sue me?"

And with a sudden clarity, Naruto understood his boss's confidence he would lose his job, his home, everything he had worked so hard for. Iruka would be so disappointed. Moreover, no one else would ever hire him, not after incurring the wrath of the last Uchiha heir.

He tried reasoning with the man, "Mr. Uchiha, I really need this job. Please" He hoped against hope that he had conveyed all that he meant to say with that sentence. Before he knew what happened, he again found himself a captive between the wall and his boss, caged inside strong arms braced on either side of his head. He shivered when he heard that deep voice again, "Don't feed the fire"

And before Naruto could finish his "Uh?" he was tossed on the couch. The dark haired man pulled one of Naruto's legs aside and made himself at home on top of him. Naruto blushed furiously, shoving against the other's chest. His hands were caught by the wrist and tied with something. Naruto blushed harder, noticing the state of the other man's shirt and realizing that he had used his tie to bind Naruto's hands.

Seeing the other man lean over him, he shook his head furiously from side to side, to try to stop the other man from kissing him. After a couple of minutes, he began to feel dizzy and opened his eyes with caution. His boss was sitting between his legs, with one eyebrow raised and head resting on the one hand leaning against the couch. Naruto blinked and tried pleading this time, "Mr. Uchiha, please let me go"

Mr. Uchiha sighed and pulled Naruto up, making him straddle the taller man, "Fine. Call me Sasuke and give me a kiss"

Naruto slumped a bit in resignation. He placed his still bound hands on the other man's chest, screwed his eyes shut and shyly pressed his lips against the thin pale ones in front of him. When he opened his eyes again he saw his boss giving him a blank stare. Naruto blinked back. The other man raised an eyebrow. Naruto mumbled, "Sasuke"

His boss untied his hands muttering. Naruto could only make out the words 'hardly a kiss' before he was pulled to his feet. Sasuke told him, "I'll drop you home" and stated walking. Naruto obediently followed.

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><p>Naruto gave the directions to his home and Sasuke followed them. That was untill the short cut that Sasuke took, which Naruto didn't even know existed. It seemed as if the man already knew the way to Naruto's home.<p>

After parking in front of Naruto's apartment building, Sasuke paused, not letting Naruto out. Naruto looked at the other man in confusion. In retrospect, he should have seen the kiss coming.

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><p><strong>Please review, and feel free to check out my other stories.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** So here's the second chapter. But before that, I want to thank you all for the wonderful reviews. And also for the favorites/follows, it is unbelievably encouraging.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Warning:** Implied SaiNaru, Shameless!Sasuke

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><p>Naruto lent back in the limited space. His boss followed him eagerly, leaning over him. Naruto gulped and pressed himself against the cool surface of the car door. The other man was so close, his face only a couple of inches from his own. When a large hand placed itself on his side, Naruto shivered. The hand retreated, instead planting itself near his face on the window. Finding himself caged in, Naruto could only look on as slightly cool lips claimed his own, again.<p>

Those lips pressed against his several times. When they started tracing his jaw, Naruto frantically searched for and found his voice, "Em. Sir, It's getting late" The other man continued his ministrations with a, "Hn?" Naruto tried again, this time moving his face away to get his attention, "It's getting late. I have to go" Mr. Uchiha pulled back, still maintaining eye contact with his lips and replied distractedly, "Yeah" Then seeming to snap out of his thoughts, he raised his eyes to Naruto's, "Yes. Late."

Naruto gave out a discrete sigh of relief and got out. He was surprised when he started getting drenched. He hadn't even noticed that it had started raining so hard. He wondered how long they had been parked near his apartment. He was even more shocked when he saw his boss join him, not caring about the rain in the slightest. He didn't even seem to notice it in fact. Dark hair was plastered to his forehead, and he in turn leaned over, trying to trap his blonde prey against the car.

Naruto, sincerely wishing his boss would stop kissing him for five minutes straight, reacted quickly and placed both palms firmly against the other man's chest. He seemed to pause, and Naruto took the chance to find escape. He looked his boss in the eye, "Sir. Thank you for dropping me off. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night" He quickly stepped aside and made to enter his building.

"That's it? You're not going to invite me in?" Naruto turned around and saw the taller man from under the protection of the awning of his apartment building. The man was now completely soaked, his raised eyebrows and spread arms the only expression on him. Naruto hesitated. The man sensing his indecision helped Naruto by nudging him in the right direction, "You're just going to leave me outside in the rain?" Naruto bit his lip looking at the man still standing in the rain, who in turn was looking like he was right where he wanted to be.

Naruto was a kind-hearted soul. More often than not, he found himself rescuing some abandoned puppy or starving kitten. It had always been a source of contention between him and Sai. "You can't save them all", he would say. "I can try", would be Naruto's soft yet earnest reply. It had taken so long for someone to come to his aid, and he simply did not have the heart to leave the lives of those fragile creatures to chance. Seeing Mr. Uchiha stranding alone in the street with sheets and sheets of rain falling upon him, reminded him of one of those puppies.

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><p>Naruto sighed, using his keys to open the door to his apartment. He ignored the warm breath on the back of his neck and opened the door, stepping inside. The other man had positively lit up on being called inside. Naruto wondered again why the billionaire was doing all this. He thought back to the look he had given Naruto under the rain, not too long back. He had looked almost – desperate.<p>

Naruto turned around to see his boss still standing just outside the door looking expectantly at him. "Please come in Mr. Uchiha, make yourself at home" The man smirked and entered. Naruto felt like he had just invited in a vampire. The expression he wore now was so different from the one from before. He wondered now, which one was real. Was Mr. Uchiha a lonesome man putting on a confident front? or a manipulative bastard using Naruto's virtues against him?

The man moved smoothly near him and whispered close to his ear, "I will" Naruto couldn't stop the shiver that traveled down his spine. The other man stood in his hallway, dripping all over the floor that Naruto had just waxed last week. He got a large towel from his closet and gave it to him, "Dry yourself up. I'll get changed" He went into his room. Well, the room he used to share with Sai.

Avoiding looking at the bed, Naruto was quick to get the sopping clothes off and used another towel to dry himself up. He wanted to be quick, since he didn't feel comfortable leaving the other man alone in his home. He changed into dry underwear and started pulling on a soft grey sweatshirt when the door swung open.

Naruto stood there, eyes wide and shirt not even covering his chest. His boss for once, looked like he was at a loss for words, mouth open. The dark eyes raking all over his uncovered form was enough to move him out of his shock. He quickly yanked the shirt down and covered himself with the towel. The other man at least had the decency to avert his eyes at being caught, which was immediately abandoned. After two seconds, he was staring at Naruto again. He licked his lips making the blonde tremble.

Even though Naruto wasn't weak by any means, he felt completely vulnerable. Naruto's strength lay more in the emotional area. It was the strength of his psyche – The determination to get up and go on even when the whole universe seemed to be conspiring against him to keep him down. And he did it with a smile.

Both his adopted father and his best friend have at several times commented on this quality he possessed, calling him an inspiration to them both. The blonde would, at each time, blush and duck his head in embarrassment. He felt it was undue flattery on their part, one that he didn't quite deserve. But it did, nevertheless, make him feel warm on the inside to receive it.

So on faced with this man, who was physically so much bigger than he was, Naruto found himself more than a little worried. Simply put, he would not be able to stop him. Whatever his boss decided to do to Naruto, he would not be able to prevent it. The dark haired man was inside Naruto's lone safe sanctuary, leering at him. Naruto used the only weapon at his disposal and glared at the man, who seemed to take the hint and left, closing the door behind him.

He quickly got to the door and locked it, cursing himself on forgetting to do so earlier. He grabbed the first pair of pants he laid his hands on and pulled it on. He noticed his entire body tremble and let himself slide to the floor. Bringing both his hands to his face, he started wondering how his life had gotten this way in twenty four hours.

Naruto had long ago admitted to himself that he might have, maybe, a tiny little crush on his boss. It wasn't his fault; the man was basically his idol. Every time Nauto had a moment of self doubt over his capabilities or over his own ambitions for a better life, he would think of the other man. The way the last Uchiha heir had conquered his enemies in their own battlefield never failed to amaze him. And this had been even before Naruto had met the man. He had never, however considered the possibility of his idol displaying such strong feelings toward him. And the intensity of those feelings made Naruto's knees weaken.

Taking a few more calming breaths, he got up and opened the door. Then, wondered if he should have maybe stayed in a little longer when he saw the Uchiha heir sitting on his couch in nothing but a towel. As soon as the man saw Naruto exit his haven, he got up as if in respect. In direct contrast, his shameless eyes roved over his secretary's form. Naruto, for his part, was feeling sorry for the towel, which while being more than enough to cover the blonde was trying desperately to hang onto the Uchiha's form.

Despite himself, Naruto was curious. _Did he really look as good without clothes as he did with?_ He shyly glanced at his boss through his lashes. _He did._ Naruto felt his face and the back of his neck burn. The other man was ripped. Each muscle was clearly defined making the tall man look like a sculpture. The dark hair spiked around his face made him look dangerous.

When Naruto dared enough to look at the other man again, he nearly jumped. The dark haired man was much closer than he had been before, and was still walking towards him. Naruto again found himself backing off till he hit the wall. He tried his trick from before and put his hands up against the other man's chest.

He was surprised when it worked again and stopped the man from his evil intentions. He spoke before his boss could change his mind, "I'll get you some clothes" And dashed off back into his room, locking it just in case.

He knew his clothes were out of the question. They were never going to fit his huge boss. So, he went with his best option. Naruto had bought a pair of black dress pants and a maroon button down shirt for Sai. It would have been the nicest clothes his ex-boyfriend owned. He ran his hands over the material, imagining how Sai would have looked in them. He felt his heart clench. _It just wasn't fair. He had done everything in his power to make the relationship work. Hadn't he?_

With one last sigh, he got up and left his room with the outfit in his hand. He handed it over to his boss, who was waiting for the blonde to appear. Mr. Uchiha looked at the bundle in confusion, but still took it, "No offense, but I really don't think your clothes will fit me"

Naruto nodded, "I know. They aren't mine" Sasuke scowled, having realized just who those clothes belonged to, "Your boyfriend's clothes?" Naruto was quick to correct him with a glare of his own, "Ex-boyfriend. And they are new. I bought them for him but he hasn't worn it yet"

Sasuke's glare left but he still didn't look pleased. Naruto leveled a look at his petulant boss, a little annoyed and absolutely not expecting him to drop his towel and start changing right in front of him. Naruto brought a hand to his mouth, completely scandalized and turned his face to his right. He was shocked, had the man he worked for always been this – shameless?

He turned back reflexively when he heard a rip. His eyes widened in disbelief. Even those clothes didn't fit his freakishly big boss. The pants did not leave much to the imagination. They were just a little on the tight side, stretched over the bulge in his crotch. The pants were at least, on him in one piece, even if they were a little comically short.

The shirt however was a different issue. The sleeve had ripped when his boss had tried to force his arm in. When Naruto shifted his eyes from the man's bicep to his face, he saw a smug expression, "Hn, I didn't know your boyfriend was so skinny"

Naruto looked at the shirt he had lovingly bought for his cheating ass boyfriend and glared at his boss.

* * *

><p>They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, watching some generic romcom movie. Well, Naruto was sitting on his end, while Sasuke was slowly inching toward him. He stretched, raising one arm to casually place it on the couch behind Naruto, who got up at the last minute declaring that he was going to get them both some tea.<p>

He turned back just in time to see his boss slump a bit and run a hand through his hair. Naruto couldn't stop himself from smiling. They had seen that exact scene in the movie not five minutes ago. It was exasperating - the way the man could be a total perv at times and then completely turn around and do something adorably dorky.

He went into the kitchen and started the kettle to boil some water. Despite his annoyance at the other man, Naruto was grateful for the distraction. Sai had been the one for him. Or, that's what he had thought. After a string of crappy relationships, Sai had been like a breath of fresh air - Charming, funny and romantic. He had swept Naruto off his feet.

"The phone is ringing", the deep voice made Naruto jump. He whirled around seeing the shirtless man a few feet away. Naruto swallowed. The light from the hallway made the dark haired man's silhouette stand out. He switched off the kettle and went to the phone, which was screaming for his attention.

Naruto picked up the phone, facing the wall so that he wouldn't have to look at his boss's naked chest. Sasuke, having destroyed the shirt, had taken it off entirely. Which wouldn't be that much of a problem, if only the other man hadn't noticed Naruto's glances and started flexing his muscles subtly. He would preen under the blonde's attention, showing off the entire expanse of his broad physic.

"Hello"

"Hello, Naruto?" It was Iruka. Naruto sighed, guessing from his adoptive father's voice that he had heard of his break up with Sai. Hinata must have told him. There were no other suspects after all. His best friend and his father often took it upon themselves to protect Naruto as much as they could.

It was touching. It was also, at many times, annoying. Naruto spoke in a frustrated whisper, "I'm fine, Iruka"

The voice ignored his statement, "Naruto, I don't want you to be alone at this time"

"Stop worrying. I'm not alone", Naruto bit his tongue as soon as he finished his sentence.

"Oh? Who are you with?" , Naruto didn't have many friends and Iruka knew that. In fact, Hinata was his only friend. Naruto had never felt bad about that fact. Hinata was an amazing friend and he was grateful everyday for her. He'd rather have one real friend than hundreds of fake ones.

He scrambled through his mind to say something appropriate and which wouldn't set off Iruka's over protective mother hen tendencies. The tall half naked man, now leaning on the wall close to Naruto wasn't really helping matters.

Mr. Uchiha moved toward him, shamelessly listening in and waiting for Naruto's reply.

Naruto bit his lip, "A friend" He squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to see the grin the other man wore. Both Iruka and Hinata had heard Naruto gushing about his boss on many occasions. If he told them that his idol was in his home at this hour –

They would think that Naruto was looking for comfort from another man. Which was completely not true, he was not as desperate as that. Besides, it was bad enough that the other man had no doubt read into his reply and added several layers of implication to it.

Naruto brought a hand to his forehead and turned to his side, putting his back to Sasuke.

"A friend?" A confused pause."Hinata's over there?'

Naruto's irritation increased, "I have other friends, dad" He only called Iruka dad when at the height of emotion. Grief, Happiness – Anger. He heard a sigh on the other side before Iruka started speaking again, "Ok Naruto, I'll call you tomorrow. Get some sleep"

Naruto felt a bit guilty for lying to the kind man, "Fine. Good night" He cut the call, sure that Iruka thought him to be lying and that he was actually alone. He would much prefer his beloved child to be alone rather than alone with a strange man.

He placed the phone on its cradle and turned around, almost walking into his boss. The other man was grinning giddily and grabbed Naruto by his upper arms, pulling him forward. Naruto had one second to feel shocked before he was kissed again.

This kiss was different than the others, much more intense. Sasuke gained entry almost immediately, his tongue battling with the blonde's. He growled when he conquered Naruto's mouth, bending him backward a little in his attempt to gain even more access. Naruto clutched at the other man's shoulders desperately trying to gain some footing.

Sasuke shifted his arms, moving one down to Naruto's waist and another hand holding onto blonde hair. Naruto, starting to feel lightheaded, beat against his captor's chest. The dark haired man moved back, giving Naruto a chance to take in some much needed oxygen.

Mr. Uchiha watched Naruto closely, then, deciding that he'd had given him enough time to breathe, wound his arms around the blonde to continue from where they had left off.

Naruto quickly placed one hand over the other man's mouth and turned his face. He could feel the warmth of the breath on his palm heating his entire body. He had to stop this before they both did something they regret. For in his mind, Naruto was sure that he was nothing more to Sasuke than a way to quench his loneliness. He had never seen his boss indulging in women and assumed that he must be doing so in private. Naruto had no intention of taking the same path as those women.

He felt those strong hands move over his body. Cold hands molding themselves to every curve and tracing every rise and valley that lay in their wake. When one of those wicked hands tried to slip inside the back of his pants, he decided it was time to speak, "Mr. Uchiha, I think your clothes would have dried by now. I'll get them so you can leave"

The man's eyes narrowed. He caught the wrist attached to the hand on his face with one of his own large hands and removed it off his mouth. Looking into Naruto's blue eyes with his smoldering dark ones, he licked the palm slowly. Naruto flushed and tried to yank his arm free of the strong grip.

The other man let Naruto struggle for a couple of moments before letting go, making the point clear that the blonde was free only because he allowed it to be so. Naruto didn't speak a word; instead rushing away to get the clothes he had put to dry before they had settled in to watch TV.

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><p>He returned, eyes not daring to meet those burning dark ones in front of him. Naruto held out the clothes with trembling hands. The other man took them, and again, started dressing in front of him. Naruto, not being able to take anymore, left to his room.<p>

After fifteen minutes, he came out to see the hallway empty. Sasuke had left.

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><p><strong>So, what do you think? Remember to reviewfavorite/follow**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I made the unbelievably stupid mistake of putting in Ino's name instead of Temari's. That's what happens when I type middle of the night I guess. So very sorry.**

Once again, awesome reviews. I just might have gotten the greatest compliment ever from IWishIWasACheescake. So, thank you. You brought a tear to my eye.

One of my wonderful reviewers mentioned that I tend to make Sasuke physically so much bigger than he actually is. I am sure that many of you might have similar thoughts. Here's a part of the reply that I sent to the reviewer.

_Truth is.. I've got a thing for big strong Sasuke falling all over himself to get graceful Naruto's attention. But that's not an excuse of course._

_In this instance, I wanted to highlight Naruto's feelings of vulnerability - both emotionally and physically. I wanted to showcase how strong he really is to be able to handle it and still not become jaded as a person. _

_I hope you don't think I do it because I prefer Sasuke over Naruto as a character, because that isn't true. Naruto is awesome. He is really strong especially emotionally and I really really wanted to stress that. _

_Also, it is from Naruto's point of view. I thought that in his mind, it would make him exaggerate the jerk's physique a little. __But I guess I went too overboard with it. I hope I didn't make you stop wanting to read my stories by that. __I actually don't like extremely Ukeish Naruto. I find physically strong Sasuke hot. But I find emotionally strong Naruto amazing._

_ I'm sorry again if I made your reading experience less enjoyable with Sasuke's growth spurt. I don't think Naruto is physically weak. I just think Naruto is emotionally stronger. Don't feel shy to review, it's wonderful that you took the time to do that._

I really do hope that Sasuke's sudden steroid induced like appearance isn't stopping any of you from going through the stories. And again, don't feel shy to review, it makes me happy that you guys take the time to do that.

Phew. My longest A/N (so far). So, here's chapter three.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Warning:** Implied SaiNaru

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><p>Naruto took the next day off. He did not even call up anyone to inform that he wouldn't be showing up. Who would he call? Seeing as he was Mr. Uchiha's secretary, the right person to inform would be Mr. Uchiha himself. But, since the whole reason he wasn't going to the office in the first place was to avoid the man, calling him didn't make much sense. And it wasn't like anyone else was going to miss him. In fact, Naruto was pretty sure that Sakura would be happy that he didn't show up.<p>

He had never taken a day off since he got this job. Not even when he had a bad case of the flu and could hardly see properly. He hadn't taken a day off even when he broke up with his boyfriend of two years after seeing him cheat on him in his own home. And now, his perfect record was tarnished because his boss couldn't seem to be capable of keeping his hands to himself.

He was now walking to the hospital bundled up to keep the cool air out. Naruto liked walking, or in this case, leisurely ambling. It helped him get some fresh air, some time to himself and clear his thoughts all at the same time – something which he was making full use of currently.

He rubbed his hands together in front of him and breathed into his fists to add more warmth. His actions were done unconsciously, his thoughts being elsewhere. Naruto pondered distantly if his being bothered by his boss enough to take a day off while not being bothered enough to do the same after being cheated on, was a reflection on his own fading attachment toward his now ex-boyfriend. If so, when had it started?

He sighed and stuffed both his hands into the warm pockets of his jacket. It was true that he had often wished for his life to be more eventful. But that was when he was younger and did not know better. He was wiser now, or at the very least, wise enough to understand that an ordinary life can be quiet the blessing.

His mysterious boss' attention, while being flattering (he was human after all) did intimidate him a little. The man was too intense, too forceful, too forthright, too – too – shameless. That thought was completed with surge of pink to Naruto's cheeks when it automatically brought up images of the other man's half naked physique.

Naruto rubbed his face, wondering if it really was as warm as it felt. Before now, the other man never showed any indication of his interest toward him. Naruto paused. Had he? Naruto knew that he himself wasn't the sharpest tool in the box when it came noticing these things, but he doubted that feelings as strong as those that his boss seemed to harbor could hardly be hidden for long.

Before yesterday, the Uchiha had never laid a finger on him, or at least not with any hidden intent. Did he? So what triggered him to make a move now? Was it his break up with Sai? If the man held himself back out of respect for Naruto's relationship, did it mean that he – love – no, liked him?

The unbelievably attractive man, who was voted again and again as one of the most eligible bachelors in the country apart from also being the second youngest billionaire, liking him? He sincerely doubted that. So it must be lust. Naruto knew for a fact that the Uchiha heir could have just about anyone he wanted, so why him? He was hardly anything special.

He blinked tiredly at the hospital doors, feeling just as, if not more, confused as before. He rubbed his palms one more time before making his way to the busy looking receptionist.

"Excuse me. Could you tell me where Dr. Tsunade is?"

The woman blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, who?"

"Dr. Tsunade Senju"

"I'm sorry. But there is no one by that name here"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Are you sure? I got a call from here asking me to meet here. Could you please check?"

He was sure that the harried looking woman would dismiss him an annoyed response. But, the worried and bewildered look on his face must have made her want to help him out. She typed something in her computer and looked back at him with furrowed brows.

"Em. There is no Dr. Tsunade working in this hospital. But there is a Miss. Tsunade Senju who has been admitted after a car accident, if she is who you are looking for"

"Car accident?"

"Yes. It's nothing serious. Her doctor wanted her to have a check up just in case"

Naruto was confused. Tsunade was the kind woman who had taken care of him in his first and last foster home. It was a brief stay, only stretching for a couple of months. But that was the first time he had been truly happy. She was a recovering alcoholic – a doctor who had almost lost her license due to her drinking.

A surly and grumpy woman who looked decades younger than her actual age, Tsunade seemed to not like Naruto in the beginning and often scolded him. It had taken him less than two weeks to realize that it was her way of caring for him. Plenty of warm smiles and hugs from his side later, they had gotten along splendidly. The last he had heard from her was ten years ago, right before she seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth.

So it was understandable when Naruto was shocked on hearing 'Granny Tsunade' call him this morning. He had been still goggy when he picked up the phone. Not having slept at all after Sasuke had left. His head filled with questions upon questions none of which had been answered yet.

He shook his head lightly at the receptionist. Tsunade hadn't sounded like she had been in an accident. "No, I think I might have come to the wrong hospital"

He was just about to leave when he heard a familiar loud voice call out to him, "Hey brat. Took your sweet time getting here"

He turned his head toward the direction the voice came from and was surprised at seeing his granny Tsunade. Almost immediately something red caught his eye and his eyes widened at seeing the blood on her shirt.

Seeming to notice Naruto's pre-panic attack face Tsunade was quick to calm him down.

"Relax brat. It's not my blood"

"That doesn't really make me feel better"

Her face softened and she led Naruto away, putting an arm around his shoulders.

"What happened?"

"A car accident"

When the blonde woman refused to give up any more information, Naruto hissed angrily, "And?"

"Well, we were travelling to this convention in – "

Naruto did not miss the little slip. His previous foster – grandma was a notorious recluse. Preferring to holing herself up in her study instead of traveling, let alone with one or more companions.

"We? Who's we?"

When Tsunade paused and fidgeted, it only added on to Naruto's suspicions.

She mumbled an almost inaudible reply "My boyfriend"

That shocked Naruto into dropping his jaw, which in turn earned him a flick on his forehead.

"Yes, my boyfriend. There's no need for that reaction"

It was a short trip to the patient's ward. Room 202.

Naruto dropped his jaw again when he saw Jiraiya, "You're going out with him?"

Tsunade merely sighed.

Jiraiya was a doctor who worked in the same hospital as Tsunade. He was an utter pervert who even wrote porn and got into a lot of trouble for it at work. Tsunade was constantly grumbling and complaining about the man's flirting. He was relentless when trying to bed her and Tsunade was forever fending off his advances.

Naruto couldn't help but voice out his surprise, "Huh. Looks like he finally succeeded"

The other blonde gave a faint smile in reply, "Hmm, seems persistence does work after all"

Naruto was stunned into silence. Tsunade seemed content. At peace. It didn't help that her reply brought up a picture of Sasuke.

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><p>Jiraiya was sleeping, so they went out to the cafeteria and got themselves two cups of the most horrid tasting coffee that Naruto had misfortune of ingesting, and sat down to catch up.<p>

Naruto was the one who broke the silence first, after taking a sip from his cup and immediately grimacing, "So, what have you been up to?'

Tsunade bit her lip and hesitated before replying, "I'm sorry I didn't call you before"

"It's fine"

She chewed on her lip again and hoped Naruto would forgive her. Circumstances had led to her having to send Naruto back to the orphanage. It was supposed to be temporary. She was supposed to come back. But –

"I relapsed Naruto"

That got Naruto's attention, "You started drinking again?"

She nodded, "Soon after you left"

One of her patients had died on the operating table and his family sued the hospital and Tsunade in particular was accused of being drunk while operating. That hadn't been the case of course. The man's condition had been too advanced to save him. But that explanation didn't assuage the patients' family. She had to send Naruto back while she took care of the problem.

Naruto looked worriedly at her, but she was looking into the cup of coffee on the table, lost in her thoughts.

Her voice was soft, "It was worse than before. Lost the case. Lost my job. It was a miracle that I didn't lose my license"

Naruto didn't know what to say, but he wanted to offer some comfort. Even though he had felt abandoned by her, he still loved her. He had been happy and safe for how ever little time he had been with her. Placing his right hand on one of her's, he squeezed it lightly to show his support.

She finally looked back at him with a smile, "I'm sober now. Sober for a year"

Naruto smiled back.

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><p>They were walking back, the stale coffee having been abandoned back in the cafeteria trashcan.<p>

"So, Jiraiya. How did that happen?"

Tsunade groaned, making Naruto very happy. He supposed it was payback for not contacting him for all these years.

"He helped me through it" She threw a glance and Naruto's face and turned her eyes back to the floor, "The case and then getting me back on the wagon again"

"So, he was with you all these years huh?"

"No. Actually I left the city after I lost the case." Her voice suddenly turned distant, "I did some bad stuff Naruto. Things I'm not proud of. Things I regret."

Naruto looked at her questioningly, but she continued her previous train of thought, her voice now back to normal, "He tracked me down. Two years ago." She growled, "Wouldn't leave me alone. He was like a fucking dog."

Naruto chucked. That did sound like Jiraiya. The continued walking, Naruto focused on the tap tap tapping of their shoes on the hospital tiles. Two years. Around the time Sai and he became an item.

He had to clear his throat before talking, "How long have you two been together?"

"A couple of months"

They went back in but the man was still sleeping. 'Pills' said Tsunade. They had been travelling to a medical convention when their car was hit by a drunk driver. When she saw Naruto's raised eyebrow, she replied with a, 'I know. Fucking ironic'. She had gotten off without a scratch, but Jiraiya had shards of glass pierce his entire left arm. Tsunade said that she was just glad that he was alive.

She turned towards Naruto, "What about you brat? What have you been upto? Are you still a virgin or did you finally find someone?"

He looked at her with an annoyed glare, "For your information, I have dated for longer than you have. Two years infact"

She whistled and then grinned, "Way to go blondie."

"We broke up two days ago"

Tsunade's grin fell right off her face; she sucked at offering emotional consolation, "Oh. Well – I'm sure you'll find a nicer girl"

"I'm gay"

"I'm sure you'll find a nicer guy"

Naruto smiled. It was one of the things he liked about her, nothing fazed her. He just told her that he was gay, and she simply took it in her stride.

Jiraiya coughed in his sleep and Tsunade went up to him to check on him. After a couple of moments, she turned back toward him and sighed, "Well, the old geezer is still breathing"

Naruto rolled his eyes at her pretend lack of care. She leaned on the wall next to Naruto, "Where are you working now?"

"Hebi Corporations"

"Sounds familiar"

"You might have heard of the head. Sasuke Uchiha"

She snapped her head toward him, "The Sasuke Uchiha?"

Naruto replied with an amused scoff, "Em. Yes. I think so. I don't think there are that many Sasuke Uchihas around"

"But you don't actually work with him do you?" Tsunade's voice took on a grave tone.

"I'm his personal secretary actually" Tsunade's uncharacteristic seriousness was making Naruto uneasy. She looked at him for what seemed like a long period of time, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Be careful Naruto"

"Huh?"

"He's a dangerous man"

Naruto laughed lightly, trying to dispel the tension, "Is it because of those tabloid magazines declaring that he was affiliated with the Yakuza? Those are just ridiculous rumors. Besides, you have hardly even heard of his company"

"I known him from before" She licked her lips before continuing,"Remember the years that I disappeared? During a part of it, I was working for him."

Naruto stared blankly at her.

"I was the in house doctor for him and his men. In turn he promised that he would to stop me from losing my license."

Naruto swallowed, "What did you – what did he do?"

She turned around, making sure she that she had his full attention, as if she had anything but. What she said next came out in a whispher.

"Naruto, I've seen him kill a man in cold blood"

"Tsunade?", The raspy voice made Naruto jump. Jiraiya had woken up.

Naruto stayed a little longer catching up, until it was time for Naruto to leave. Tsunade walked with him to the hospital entrance.

"Remember what I told you Naruto. Be careful. Don't get too close to him"

He just nodded.

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><p>When he got back to his apartment, he saw Sai inside, lounging on his couch and watching TV. He merely lifted his head up when he saw Naruto, "Hey, came for my stuff"<p>

Naruto cursed himself for not putting them outside. He had wanted to, but some of the things were expensive and he didn't want to risk theft. He had not, however, expected the jerk to invite himself into his home. He made a mental note to change his locks.

He placed the last of the bags in the hallway, all packed and ready for Sai to take and get the hell out of his apartment. He even opened the door for him to give him a hint.

"What's the hurry?"

Naruto closed his eyes and prayed for patience. Then, he took the bags and started putting them outside the door. That finally seemed to make the other man move from the couch. But instead of leaving, he rounded on Naruto.

"You still haven't changed your mind?"

Naruto thought that the man's belongings lying outside would have clued him to that.

"No Sai. So just take your things and leave."

"Well then, how about one for the road?"

He grabbed Naruto, pushing him against the wall and pressing himself against Naruto.

Naruto, now considerable pissed off, shoved at Sai, "Get out Sai"

"Is there a problem?"

Naruto froze seeing Sasuke in the open door way, who in turn looked ready to rip Sai to shreds.

Sai pushed himself off Naruto and looked between the huge angry looking stranger and the blonde. He gave a fake smile, "Not at all."

He stood near the door, waiting for the taller man to move so he could leave. But Sasuke simply stood there and glared down at Sai, forcing him to inch his way out. Sai picked up his bags and looked at Naruto one last time, "Sure didn't take you long, did it?" and then left.

'Fuck you', Naruto thought angrily, 'You were the one who cheated on me'

"Are you ok?" Naruto remembered the other man's presence.

He nodded and Sasuke continued, "You didn't come to work today and I thought you might be sick"

"I – um – my friend and her boyfriend got into a car accident. I went to see them at the hospital"

He had gotten the call after having decided to take the day off of course. But his boss needn't know that.

Sasuke nodded before holding out a paper bag, "I got you this"

Naruto took it and looked inside, his eyebrows rising in surprise, "Miso ramen?" It was his favorite. "Thank you"

He got a nod in reply, "Will you be coming tomorrow?"

"Yes"

Sasuke stood there a little longer. Naruto resolutely refused to invite the other man in. Once bitten...

"Right. See you tomorrow then"

Naruto nodded and closed the door after Sasuke had left.

Was it normal for the boss to visit his employees when they didn't show up for work?

Naruto sighed. It sure didn't feel like a day off.

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><p>The next day was a very, very busy one, more so than the usual busy ones. Naruto was swamped with numerous phone calls asking for an appointment to see Mr. Uchiha.<p>

He rubbed the juncture between his neck and shoulders when the calls finally subsided. Leaning back on his chair, he closed his eyes, intending to savor the temporary silence and opened them again when got the predictable call from Mr. Uchiha. The man always seemed to know when he wasn't occupied.

He took his notepad, pen and went into his cabin.

The dark haired man looked up at him as soon as he opened the door. He looked at Naruto from his head to his shoes, and repeating the journey again back up.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Fine"

"And your friends?"

"They are doing fine too"

He was determined to keep his replies as short as possible. Get in, do his job and get out was his mantra for today.

His boss made a non-committal sound and asked Naruto to take some notes. Naruto felt happy, at having some normalcy between them.

After about thirty minutes of continuous scratching on his notepad followed by thirty seconds of silence, Naruto spoke up, "Is that all sir?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, looking as if he wanted to say something but then gave a sharp nod, "Yes. Show me the draft before you send the mail out"

"Yes sir"

He opened the door to leave, almost walking into Temari, "Oh sorry"

Her eyes widened, "Naruto! I was looking for you. You got a call, someone saying it was urgent"

Naruto immediately got worried, thinking it was from Tsunade, had Jiraiya's condition gotten worse?

"Who was it?"

She thought hard, "Sai I think"

He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Thanks Temari. I'll call him back."

She left. Naruto was just about to join her outside the cabin when he heard Sasuke's voice.

"Naruto"

He turned around and the dark glowering eyes gave him pause. His grip on the door loosened, leading it to swing shut automatically.

"I will have you Naruto"

Naruto gaped for a couple of moments, not knowing how one should respond to a statement such as that.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, and deciding to simply end this right here, he spoke, "Mr. Uchiha. I don't think this is a good idea."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the other man got up and started walking toward him. Tsunade's words from yesterday drifted through his head. Naruto hurried to say something, anything that would make the man stop and listen and actually consider, "Company rules state clearly that relationships such as these are grounds for dismissal"

His boss, now right in front of him put one hand near his head on the door and the other wrenched his head back with a grip on his hair. Naruto gasped, dropping his notepad and put his hands in front of him reflexively. It didn't hurt that much, it was the shock of the action itself that made him widen his eyes at the man in front of him. That, and the venomous expression on his face.

When the taller man spoke, it was nearly in a growl, "I will make you mine. I will have you"

Then he pressed his body against Naruto's, slamming him against the door, while Naruto's torso and head were pulled forward. He had a single moment to wince at the uncomfortable position before the other man started a controlling, almost brutal kiss. It could hardly be called a kiss. It was none of the things that the word brings to mind. It wasn't soft or reassuring, loving or passionate. This was vicious and hard, demanding and savage. It was a claim.

The hand in his hair pulled his head further back to give more access to the probing tongue. The hand that had previously been on the door now moved down and landed on Naruto's belt.

When Naruto felt the tugging on his pants, he tried to stop it frantically. But with one hand trapped between their bodies, that was proving to be a difficult task. The man gave an annoyed sound and pulled back. He let go of the grip on blonde hair and instead took a hold of Naruto's free arm and held it behind his back.

After yanking aside Naruto's shirt, he bent down and bit his collar bone. Naruto pressed his lips together to keep himself from crying out. He didn't know how sound proof the door and walls were, and really did not want to find out. The man sucked on the area insistently, licking it now and then to soothe the sting.

It was starting to feel good, and that scared Naruto more than anything else that had happened today. When he felt something hard press against his groin, he let out an involuntary moan. He immediately regretted it when that seemed to spur the other man on. He bit into that spot again, viciously sucking it afterward. Naruto realized belatedly that the hard thing pressing against him was Sasuke's –

Naruto jolted when he felt the door being pushed against him. He whipped his head to the side to see the door handle moving. The thanked whatever little luck he had that the other man noticed it too and moved away with a glower.

Naruto jumped aside, making quick work of fixing his clothing as much as he could.

This time it was Sakura who came in. She started saying something, faltering when she took heed of Sasuke's seething countenance and Naruto's own blushing face.

Naruto, for his part could not remember the last time he had felt so completely mortified. He was certain that his entire face was red. When Naruto saw Sakura's eyes shift to his hair, he cursed in his mind. He had forgotten all about that.

Seeing her eyes widen a little, he rushed out.

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><p><strong>ReviewFavorite/Follow, let me know what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Fantastic reviews once again. Just couldn't wait to get another chapter out.

Thank you BattyBigSister for the wonderfully involved review. You have put in so much thought into it, making me a very happy author. I hope this chapter continues to hold your interest :)

Thank you randomfangirl for the nice compliment/review

One guest reviewer asked me if it seemed that Sasuke's behavior is a little rapey, My answer :

Yes. Yes it does. And Naruto would agree wholeheartedly.

To answer Chiko92's question of whether the story will be in Naruto's POV :

Well, I'm will probably stick to Naruto's POV. I feel that it we get a better handle that way over how insecure and confused Naruto is.  
>Also, I'm just trying out something different with each of my stories.<p>

And sorry once again about the horrible mistake I made in the previous chapter (It was Temari who told Naruto about the call, not Ino)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Warning:** Implied SaiNaru

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><p>Naruto sat behind his desk with his head in his hands. Sakura had seen. She was smart. Naruto had no doubt that she had figured it out. What was he going to do now? He was already called the man's pet. Lord knows what they would call him now. Would he lose his job? It was absolutely unfair. Sasuke was the one who had started it. Naruto played no part in all this. It was all Sasuke's fault.<p>

Naruto groaned inwardly. He had stated calling him Sasuke. Granted it was only in his mind. But still –

Naruto was interrupted in his wallowing when a shadow fell over him. He peeked up between his hands, feeling his stomach plummet when he saw that it was Sakura.

She was close to obsessed with his boss – Naruto backtracked in his mind – their boss. And looking at the dead serious expression that was currently occupying the woman's face, he cringed and braced himself for the verbal thrashing.

"Did he assault you?"

Naruto snapped his head up, "Ex- excuse me?"

Sakura looked around and lowered her voice before talking again, "He forced himself on you didn't he?"

Naruto continued to gape at her. When he became aware that he was dumbly opening and closing his mouth, he stopped and swallowed before talking, "I don't know what you're talking about"

Sakura gave out frustrated sound and made to talk again when she took heed of the people looking at them curiously. The general consensus was that Naruto and Sakura simply did not get along. They were often likened to the rivalry of that between the popular and unpopular kids in high school. Sakura, even when she had to talk to Mr. Uchiha, would rather go talk to the man herself than talk to the quiet man who had stolen her rightful position.

Naruto, having taken notice of the increase in attention as well, straightened up and looked at her with what he hoped was a straight face. And from the pinkette's still furrowed eyebrows, he knew that he had failed.

But she backed off, and Naruto ventured to count that as a win.

He waited patiently till everyone had gone back to their respective work to stop pretending that his mind was in his own work. He waited a further fifty more minutes before he couldn't hold up the act any longer and got up to panic in privacy.

* * *

><p>Naruto entered the restroom looking calm and composed and before he let down his guard, checked whether the place was empty. It was.<p>

He very nearly collapsed against the sink. The person staring back at him was unrecognizable. He was pale and trembling with his hair a mess and eyes wide. Naruto lent closer to the mirror, breathing hard. He took notice of the swollen almost bruised looking lips. Feeling a twinge, he slowly pulled the collar of his shirt away to access the damage. What he saw made him gasp.

The hickey, though it looked more like a wound, was dark and purple and much larger than a hickey had any right to be. Naruto glared at it, and the hickey/wound stared back.

"Oh my God"

He whirled around, to see Sakura standing behind him.

In an echo of their confrontation from before, Naruto gaped for a few moments before speaking, "What are you doing?! This is the men's room!"

She promptly ignored his outburst. He saw her eyes dart to his collar before she spoke, "I was right. He did assault you."

Naruto fixed his ruff, "What are you talking about?"

Sakura raised one finely shaped eyebrow, "I am talking about that love bite on your shoulder"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm allergic – it's a bug bite"

The other eyebrow joined its companion, "Want to give it another try? Is it an allergy or a bug bite?"

"I'm allergic to bug bites"

When Sakura continued to stand there skeptically with folded arms and all, he said, 'Excuse me' and tried to walk past, only to find his way blocked by the tall pinkette.

Sakura's annoyed expression dissolved on seeing Naruto's own miffed appearance.

She tried approaching the subject once again, "Naruto. Did Mr. Uchiha assault you sexually?"

The very fact that Sakura had used his first name was enough to make him pause. He could count the number of times she had used his name on one hand. And his first name, none.

He mumbled, "No"

She sighed, "That's the worst lie I've ever heard"

Naruto glared at the wall to his side, it looked wet, like there was a leak. "No one assaulted anyone"

Sakura placed both her hands on his shoulders and physically turned him to look at her. Naruto resented that fact that she had to bend down a little to look at him. It was probably those thrice damned heels.

"Naruto" Sakura's gentle tone made him to finally make eye contact with her.

Her eyes were moss green. She really was very pretty. He wondered if they might have been friends if he hadn't become Sasuke's assistant.

"Did he hurt you Naruto?"

He swallowed. Why did she want to know? Was she going to get him fired? But then telling her that Sasuke made a move on him didn't really help in accomplishing that.

He swallowed again before replying, "He didn't hurt me". It was true. The other man hadn't hurt him in the true sense of the word.

Sakura searched his face a little longer before continuing with her interrogation, though it really didn't feel like one, "I – My friend had a boss who harassed her regularly. It went on for months and she put up with it, until he went too far." She took a deep breath before continuing, "She thought she could handle it but – "

She went on hurriedly when Naruto looked like he was about to protest, " – I'm not saying that you can't handle it. I'm just saying that you don't have to"

Naruto hated making people worry about him. It made him feel like a burden. He replied in a tired voice, "It's fine. It's all fine."

Suddenly she started shaking him, "You don't have to let him treat you like this"

"It's a misunderstanding. You're reading too much into nothing"

"Naruto, I have seen the way he looks at you"

That effectively shut him up, his shock increasing when he saw guilt rise up in Sakura's face,"I thought that – I thought it was mutual. I thought you reciprocated. That you were lovers" She looked at him with tear filled eyes, "I didn't know that he was forcing himself on you. I'm so sorry."

Naruto closed his eyes. This was way too much drama than the situation called for.

"Sakura. Nothing happened"

"Then what's that?" She asked pointing to the hickey.

He sighed. This was giving him a head ache. "He kissed me. That's it." It was weird how the word 'kiss' seemed to both cover and not cover what happened, at the same time.

She looked at him some more. Deciding that he was indeed speaking the truth, she let go of him. After shuffling in one spot for some time, she asked hesitantly, "Did you – um – like it?'

Naruto choked on air, "Wh – what?"

She looked at his parted lips, wide eyes, the furious blush and came to the conclusion with her own eyes widening, "You did."

"NO" He slapped his hand over his mouth, cursing his loud voice. "I did not" He hissed like an annoyed aggravated cat.

"So, it was an assault"

"No" Naruto clutched at his hair, nearly at the end of his tether, "Ugh. Stop using that word"

Sakura didn't miss a beat, "Ok, it was harassment"

"No"

"So, then you welcomed the kiss"

"Arg" He ran both hands down his face and looked at her, expecting a smirk. Sakura merely looked curious and slightly confused.

He looked pleadingly at her, and she replied in a soft surprised voice, "You have no idea whether you liked it." It looked like she was less confused about it than he was.

He exhaled, slumping his shoulders.

Both of them jolted when one of their co-workers from the floor above entered the rest room. He looked from Naruto to Sakura before apologizing profusely before scampering off, "I'm sorry. I thought it was the men's room"

Naruto wondered faintly if the man had perhaps thought that he was a girl.

He closed his eyes, rubbing it tiredly.

* * *

><p>They had gone back to their work, separately of course. Naruto typed over the draft from before, feeling pride in the back of his mind for having had the presence of mind to pick up his notepad from the floor before leaving Sasuke's cabin earlier that day even in the middle of all that embarrassment.<p>

He clicked the send button to mail it to the man who is currently in the middle of most of Naruto's head ache of this week.

It had taken him a lot longer than expected to complete the simple type up. He was surprised that his boss hadn't called him to demand for it. But then, he was the reason for the delay. So, 'serves him right' Naruto thought with a pout.

It was almost time to go home. The office was almost empty. And Naruto felt trepidation, remembering the last time he had been alone with his boss, and the time before that in the office. The day it had all started.

Was there going to be a repeat performance?

He jumped when his phone rang, continuing to watch it ring a few more times. He predicted who it was, but picked it up just the same.

"Come to my room" Naruto didn't even have the time to give a reply before the call was cut.

He swallowed and stood up.

* * *

><p>Naruto was sweating from his forehead but his hands were freezing cold. Pushing the door open, he peaked inside. The other man was reading something on the computer screen.<p>

He stepped inside, letting go of the door handle. The door made a light creak, closing painfully slow before shutting with a click.

Immediately Sasuke's eyes snapped to him.

Naruto shifted his eyes away when he saw the other man appraise him, "What did she want?"

"What?"

"Haruno. What did she speak to you about?"

Naruto hadn't expected that question. But thinking back now, he realized he should have. He just hadn't thought that the man would find out about it when he hadn't even left his room. But then again, the Uchiha heir wouldn't have gotten where he is now by being negligent about what happens in his office.

Naruto considered lying, but knowing his lack of talent in that department and the possibility that his boss already knew the answer, made him reconsider that option.

"She asked me if you hurt me"

There was a long pause before the next question, "And what did you say?"

Naruto let out a soft breath, still not looking at the other man, "I said no"

Naruto looked at Sasuke expecting him to look pleased. He was not disappointed.

He felt a sudden desire to act out for once. To pay him back for all the trouble he has been causing.

"She also asked me if you had sexually assaulted me"

The man simply raised one eyebrow, "What was your answer?"

Naruto's instinct, a powerful and accurate tool in its own right, told him to be very careful with his reply. He ignored it.

"I should have told her yes"

Sasuke got up and started walking toward him, lips pressed together, looking fit to strike him. Naruto braced himself just in case and was surprised when the other man smirked and shrugged one shoulder.

And before he knew it, he had one arm wrapped around his waist and his body pressed against that of his employer. He felt Sasuke's breath ghost over his ear when he whispered, "It's not assault when the other party likes it"

He lent away from that evil mouth. The bite mark on his collar throbbed, reminding him about the damage that that mouth could cause.

"I did not like it"

Sasuke hummed, looking at the side of Naruto's face that was visible to him. The hand on his waist was cold, and the blonde could feel it through this shirt.

"What did that asshole want from you?"

It took two loud heat beats before Naruto understood that the other man was talking about Sai.

Still feeling irritated and beleaguered by the headache, he muttered, "Pot calling the kettle black"

But the other man had heard him. He wrenched Naruto's head back before declaring furiously, "Do not compare me to that guy"

Naruto spoke through clenched teeth, "At least he didn't man handle me like this"

Sasuke smirked, "Oh? So you want me to be gentle?"

He picked the blonde up and threw him lightly on the sofa before descending on him, caging Naruto with his body. He started nibbling on the blonde's neck. Naruto did not want another bruise.

"Stop biting me"

He felt a hand slip under his shirt. Naruto shivered under that coldness that seemed to radiate from it.

"Tell him to fuck off"

Naruto had infact told Sai exactly that. He pressed his lips together, refusing give an answer. Sasuke didn't seem too happy with the silence from his tone.

"Well then, I suppose I have to personally make sure that he does"

Naruto's reaction was automatic. Sai might be a complete jerk, but he didn't want him to get hurt. He snapped his head to Sasuke, his voice half in demand and half in plea, "Leave him alone"

Sasuke looked infinitely less happy now, "Don't tell me you still have feelings for him"

Naruto remained silent.

Sasuke leaned closer to Naruto, who couldn't see anything but the other man's burning eyes. "Let me remind you again Naruto. You belong to me"

His mouth, deciding that he wasn't in enough trouble spoke before he could stop it, "I thought you said you were going to make me yours"

The smirk from before made a reappearance, now more smug, "Eager now, are we?"

When Naruto felt one of his nipples being pinched, he bucked up with a gasp. He saw Sasuke grin before his shirt was rucked up to his neck and a mouth dived onto his chest.

It felt too good. Naruto had always been sensitive there, something Sai had taken great advantage of. The other man was laving one of his peaked nubs with his tongue, sucking and biting it now and then. Sasuke gave one particularly hard suck and Naruto arched back moaning.

The man continued doing that again and again, making Naruto's vision fog and his struggles weaken. The blonde had his lips parted and was panting at the sparks of pleasure that zinged down his spine.

"St – stop"

He felt the man scoff against his chest, "You should be more honest about what you want". The cold air against his wet skin only served to heighten his sensitivity.

Sasuke ground his hips against Naruto's making him cry out. He was losing his footing. The other man hadn't even touched him there and he had already become a moaning mess.

Sasuke lent back chuckling, "So responsive"

Naruto panted out, "I don't want this"

Sasuke refused to hear any of it, "Stop lying" he pressed his hips to Naruto's again to prove his point before whispering in his baritone voice, "I know you like me"

He ignored the blonde's shocked face.

"I've seen those adoring looks and cute little blushes." Sasuke groaned, burying his face in Naruto's neck and mumbled, "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to hold myself back. To stop myself from taking you right then and there"

"Looks like nothing's stopping you now" His mouth seemed intent to dig his grave.

Sasuke lifted his back and grinned, "Exactly" He took one of Naruto's boneless hands and placed it on his crotch, making him feel Sasuke's hot length through his clothes. The man hissed at the contact, "Look how hard you make me"

"How romantic"

The man chuckled.

He unzipped his pants; disregarding Naruto's alarmed eyes and closed the blonde's hand around his manhood. Sasuke grunted, almost like he was in pain.

Naruto was torn between being fascinated by the stoic man's loss of control and the way his palm burned from the contact with the heated flesh.

He was only half hard, but Naruto already had trouble holding it. He flexed his hand involuntarily – a spasm, making the other man swear and bury his face in Naruto's neck again.

He rubbed his face against the blonde's skin, moving his hips an imperceptible inch forward.

"Naruto" the man's voice was hoarse. "Fuck. Naruto" He kissed him. A sensual kiss softened by the pleasure he was feeling. A tongue entered his mouth and Naruto let it. It wound around his own stroking it in an imitation of his own hand on the other man's length.

Naruto lost track of how long they were like this, before the door handle jiggled. He pulled his hand out of his boss' pants like it was burned.

Sasuke pulled back as well, growling in the process, "For fuck's sake"

The door opened and Naruto hurried to fix his clothes for the second time that day. Sasuke was doing the same with his pants.

"Can't anybody in this fucking office leave my door the fuck alone"

Naruto couldn't help but look at the other man curiously. He had never seen him so out of control before, or heard him cuss so much at once. He thought that it would be most unwise to tell the man that he shouldn't be doing these things in the office in the first place. His mouth, finally, agreed and stayed shut.

He shifted his eyes to the door seeing Sakura. She had on a pleasant face. Naruto however, could tell that she was trying hard not to react to the, no doubt obvious, signs. She nodded politely at Sasuke, who gave back a murderous glare, and then smiled sweetly at Naruto, "Hey Naruto, are you ready to go home?"

Naruto blinked.

Sakura giggled softly, "Forgot you begging me to drop you at your home today?"

Naruto blinked again.

Sasuke replied instead, "It's fine. I can drop him off"

That made him jump into action, literally. He jolted up from the couch and faced Sasuke, "That's ok Mr. Uchiha. I have already troubled you enough for today."

The man gave a slow smirk, "Oh, it was my pleasure"

Naruto shivered inwardly at the deep voice.

After a few awkward moments, Sakura spoke up, "Well, let's get going Naruto."

He nodded and followed Sakura out of the office, swallowing at the heat that pooled in his stomach on seeing dark eyes hungrily eyeing his body.

* * *

><p>The ride in Sakura's car was silent except for their decision to stop and have a late dinner. Naruto sincerely doubted he would be able to cook anything tonight.<p>

And that's how he found himself at a table in a diner in front of Sakura Haruno, the office queen who he thought hated his guts, and eating pancakes for dinner.

Naruto absently nibbled on the piece of pancake on his fork while tracking the path the syrup was talking on the plate.

He looked up when he heard Sakura speak in a quiet voice, "So… you want to talk about it?"

He looked back at the syrup. It wasn't moving very fast. "About what?"

Sakura sighed, "Naruto. I'm going to make a complaint"

"To whom? He's the boss"

"Ah ha. So you agree that he attacked you"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "He didn't attack me"

Sakura's face was serious when she replied, "He might own the company, but I can still get him arrested"

"Don't do that. I can take care of myself"

There was a long gap, filled with silence, apart from the occasional chatter in the dinner and a car whizzing past them. There were sitting near the window, Naruto was grateful for the fresh air.

"Do you like him Naruto?"

He looked at her. He had expected the question and congratulated himself on not showing any traces of embarrassment on his face.

"He's not so bad" He said shrugging one shoulder nonchalantly before looking back out the window. Feeling the seconds tick by and the heavy gaze on his face, he looked at his companion.

"Oh my God. You do like him" The surprise on her face and the conviction in her voice about her deduction made him blush and look at his fascination pancakes again.

"Do you love him?"

"No"

"Well then, I wish you kids good luck" Naruto snapped his head up glaring on seeing the smirk on the girl's face, "What are you talking about? I have no intention becoming his little mistress of the month"

"Huh?" Naruto felt an inordinate amount of joy on wiping the aforementioned smirk off of her face. It reminded him too much of a certain semi-spiky haired bastard of a boss.

He lent back on the seat and folded his arms, "I don't want to join his list of pass-time flings"

Sakura absently trailed her fork on the syrup on her own plate while talking, "Well… he hasn't had one of those in a long time. It's been months even" She suddenly sat up straight, "Actually he stopped after you came"

Naruto rose his eyebrows, "What? Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am sure. This is me you're talking to. I know everything about him." Sakura's voice was deadpan. Ofcourse, only the pinkette would find offense on having her stalker skills questioned.

Naruto chewed on his lower lip, tasting the traces of the syrup.

One again, it was Sakura who broke the silence, "I don't think you're just a fling to him"

"First you tell me to make a complaint on him and now you're telling me to go ahead and sleep with him?"

"Hey, I thought you didn't like him"

Naruto smiled at Sakura's widened eyes at his accusation. One week ago, he would never have imagined that he would be sitting with Sakura and sharing a friendly banter about their boss over dinner.

He rested his face on one fist, "What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't you like him?"

She looked at him, "I did. But come on, I knew nothing was going to come out of that. Especially after I noticed the way he looked at you"

Naruto was truly curious. She had mentioned something along the same vein earlier that day in the restroom. He had noticed that the tall woman was rather perceptive and he wanted to know what it was that she meant by it, "And how's that exactly?"

"Like he wanted to eat you"

She giggled uncontrollably at Naruto's scandalized face.

After sobering up, she continued, "That kind of helped me get over him"

"Because he was interested in a man?"

"No, because the thought of you two doing it was really hot" She started sniggering before she even finished the sentence.

"Oh my God. You are weird"

Sakura did not contest the statement. Naruto sighed. The girl really had helped him forget everything. It was nice, to simply sit and talk with no repercussions. Even his headache had disappeared. He hoped he didn't cause her any trouble, "You could lose your job by getting on his bad side"

She simply shrugged, "I thought he was forcing himself on you again. I couldn't just stand by and not do anything knowing that. I had to do something"

He was touched. He would feel extremely guilty if Sakura lost her job trying to help him.

She seemed to sense that, "Hey. Forget about that"

"I'm glad you don't hate me anymore"

"I never hated you Naruto"

* * *

><p>Sakura dropped him off in front of his apartment and Naruto invited her in. She refused politely. It was getting late and she was tired. She promised that she would come another day.<p>

Naruto changed his clothes and flopped into bed with a smile on his face. Today had ended better than it had started.

He wasn't sure if that counted the heated dreams of his dark eyed boss that followed later that night.

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><p><strong>ReviewFavorite/Follow, let me know what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Wow. It took way longer than I thought to update this fic. So very sorry about that. I didn't want to rush it and mess up the story.

Nice to see that Sakura has more supporters now.

About the POV ... I'm going to stick to Naruto's POV as much as I can. It's more interesting that way.

superfan8 : Naruto will not give in that easily. And neither will Sasuke :)

IWishIWasACheescake : You give me some of the most flattering reviews. Thank you :)

This story has some of best guest reviews too.

bluebird11 : I meant to say that I'd be updating this story soon in Harmonized Amalgamation, but forgot. I'm sorry that I took this long to update this story. Hope you like this chapter.

Bad Writer xD : Wow. That review just blew my mind. I remember myself being inspired to write and post by a story on not that long ago and to know that I did that to someone is... well, I'm honored that I could help :) Good luck.

Getting all these Reviews and Favorites and Follows made me hunker down and work on the next chapter.

So here you are. The next chapter of 'A Time To Change'

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Warning:** Implied SaiNaru

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><p>Naruto woke up groggy and not all that bright eyed and in a chipper mood. So, it was understandable when he did not answer the door with a smile and a hello, even more so when it was Sai who rang the bell.<p>

Naruto groaned and rubbed his eyes. First it was Sasuke invading every sleeping moment of his mind. And now, his ex-boyfriend wouldn't leave him alone.

"What do you want Sai?" He asked tiredly.

Sai looked fresh and clean in a pressed shirt and jeans. He was wearing a sheepish smile, his most genuine expression – the one which never failed to make Naruto's knees weak and his cheeks redden. Not this time though. He merely waited for the other man to answer him.

"I made a mistake" When Naruto simply stared back at him he continued, "I want to get back with you"

Naruto took a deep breath. He wanted to shout at Sai. Tell him that would never ever, ever happen, not in a million years. Ask him if he was stark raving mad for even thinking it possible that they could get back together again.

He took another deep breath and said, "No"

When Naruto tried closing the door on Sai's now 'smileless' face, Sai stopped it with his hand, making Naruto click his tongue in irritation. His ex-boyfriend pushed through and closed the door behind him.

"Why not?"

Naruto couldn't believe the other man actually wanted an explanation **from** **him**.

"Let me see… you cheated on me for six months" He looked Sai with a flat look, "That's kind of a deal breaker"

Sai seemed to grope around for an reply to that and instead gave a slow smirk, "That was then" He wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist and purred, "Let's move this conversation somewhere more comfortable"

Naruto took a lot of satisfaction in the shock that overcame every feature of the pale man's body when he hit him. Sai was clutching his left cheek. His wide eyes lasted for only a moment however, and Sai quickly schooled his appearance back into a fake sort of calm.

"Naruto – "

Naruto stopped him before he ended up saying something that earned him another slap. He opened the door and held it open for the other man, "Sai. I want you to leave."

He hesitated and Naruto lost his temper, "Do you want me to call the police?" It was an empty threat, but the reaction that the other man gave was dramatic. Not having had the chance to see much expression on his ex-boyfriend's face, Naruto was struck by the look of fear on Sai's pale face.

"Ok ok. I'll leave."

After he crossed the threshold and just before Naruto closed the door on his face, Sai stared down at him with such intensity that Naruto had to pause.

"If you're going to set the police on somebody, it should be on that new boyfriend of yours"

* * *

><p>His mood hadn't improved much by the time he reached the office. He chewed on his lip, trying with all his might to concentrate on his work. He just didn't understand Sai's persistence. When Naruto had done everything in his power to make the relationship work, Sai couldn't seem to care less. Now, when he is moving on, the other man keeps trying to get his attention.<p>

Or atleast, he is trying to move on, Naruto thought darkly. Just seeing Sai's face brought up so many memories which once happy, now only brought him pain when he remembered that it had all been a lie.

Naruto kept staring at the spreadsheet on the monitor in front of him for what seemed like an hour before the dreaded summon. He picked up the phone, heard the command from Mr. Uchiha telling him to go to his cabin, and got up after placing the phone back in its cradle. All done without a single word from his end.

The man seemed to enjoy ordering him about. Sai had done the same thing on multiple occasions. He would simply tell him to do something and expect it to be done, with no regard for what he felt.

There wasn't even a pretense of an assignment this time. Sasuke smirked and wasted no time in plastering himself to his body, pressing him into the door. The taller man ran his hands all over Naruto's body. All this even before Naruto could register Sasuke getting up from his chair.

Had he been that distracted?

Naruto found himself once again under the mercy of a man who seemed to hold no consideration for his feelings. He became aware of cold lips pressing against the side of his neck and felt his ire rise. He was sick of it. Ordering him about regarding his job was one thing. He was getting paid after all. But this? This was too much. This was too far.

Naruto shoved at the other man, feeling a burst of surprise when he succeeded. Naruto eyes darted from his hands to the large man stumbling and then righting himself. The faint surprise on Sasuke's face reminded Naruto of what had transpired that morning.

"You have no right to do this"

"Why not?"

_Unbelievable._

"You just can't"

"Oh, I think I can"

The level of smugness in his voice ought to be a crime. It annoyed Naruto. Sasuke sounded so sure, so entitled to whatever he wanted. And that irritated him to no end. His outrage overrode the attraction that he seemed to have had for his dark haired boss since forever.

He glared at Sasuke.

When Sasuke simply smirked and came near him again, something snapped in him. Before he knew it, he punched him. He had punched Sasuke. Hard. Naruto watched in a sort of disconnected state as a bruise formed and some blood tricked out from the corner of thin lips that just moments ago had been kissing his neck.

"I said stop"

He gritted out between clenched teeth and furiously narrowed eyes. Sasuke wiped the blood with the back of his hand all the while looking at him with intent and a smirk, "You are so fucking hot"

Naruto was shocked. "You are incorrigible"

"Oh please, it's not like you didn't like it"

"I quit"

"What?"

That finally seemed to wipe the smirk off the man's face. Naruto shook his head "I don't have to put up with your crap." And with that he started walking out the door. In the back of his mind, there was a voice which told him that he was effectively ruining his career, but he ignored it.

"Wait"

Naruto turned around after a moment of hesitation.

"What do you want me to do?" Sasuke looked and sounded a bit panicked, which Naruto found odd. However, he kept his voice steady when he replied, "I want you to stop harassing me"

After a long beat of silence, Sasuke gave a nod, looking like it was killing him to give and said, "I'll control my hands" Naruto considered him for a long time before nodding.

Sasuke seemed to relax then and asked him to sort some documents on his desk. Naruto obliged after giving another demure nod. He sensed the heavy feeling of eyes on him, but brushed it off as his imagination. The job took ten minutes at the most and Naruto straightened up to leave after he was done. Just before exiting the cabin Naruto turned around to ask Sasuke about the spreadsheet's deadline and saw dark eyes lazily lift from his behind to his face. Naruto was outraged, "You promised me that – "

"That I would control my hands" Sasuke finished with a smirk.

After glaring as hard as he could, Naruto left, yanking the door hard behind him. He was immensely disappointed when the door clicked shut softly instead of slamming closed.

* * *

><p>Naruto usually didn't take breaks, unless he had to use the restroom. It didn't take long for Naruto to find out that breaks weren't as relaxing as they ought to be when taken alone. But today, he found himself on a tea break with Sakura.<p>

"You told him what?"

He swallowed a bite of cookie, taking his time and relishing in Sakura's impatience, "I told him to quit it or I will"

She rolled her eyes at that, "Those were the exact words?"

"That was the gist of it"

"What were the exact words you used?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Tell me"

Raising an eyebrow at her plea, he tried recalling the conversation, replaying it to her as best as he could.

"Ok, so why did you want to know the exact words?"

She just shrugged and went back to her tea.

"He's not going to be happy with the current arrangement"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't care"

* * *

><p>He hurried with the printout in his hand. It was supposed to have been on Sasuke's desk half an hour ago. But an unexpected call from Iruka had him now running late and in a frenzy. Naruto thrived in order and his schedule going a little askew put him in a state of unease.<p>

The cabin door was slightly open, possibly with something caught in the door jamb. Naruto was just about to push the door open fully when he heard voices from inside, heated and angry. There were people arguing inside. Not wanting to intrude on a coworker's dressing down, Naruto waited outside.

" – I said I have it under control" It was Sasuke's voice.

"That's not what I heard"

Naruto had never heard that voice before. All he could tell was that it belonged to a man and he sounded amused. The second information was the one that made him dreadfully curious. He had never heard anyone speak like that to the Uchiha heir. His stomach flipped. If he didn't know better, it almost seemed as if the man was teasing Sasuke.

"Who?"

The single word was uttered in a growl. Naruto deduced that the playful relationship was not mutual. The disappointment, he didn't even realize that he had, dispelled.

"Did he give that to you?"

The voice didn't lose its tone of amusement.

"Leave" Sasuke seemed to be angry enough to be reduced to the level of growling out every word.

"You certainly are charming the pants off of him aren't you?"

"Who's there?" Naruto nearly screamed when the door was suddenly yanked open. His eyes immediately fell on the man standing next to Sasuke. He was tall with spiky silver-ish hair. But the strangest part was the mask and lopsided bandana on his forehead that covered his left eye.

Naruto blinked as the man put out his hand for a handshake, "I'm Kakashi Hatake"

His eyes widened in recognition at the name. Naruto, who had been younger and fascinated with Mr. Uchiha's history and rise from the ashes, had devoured every piece of information that he could on the man. And that was probably the only reason he had even heard about the eccentric man now shaking his hand. Kakashi Hatake was the man who had been incharge of the youngest Uchiha's security at the time of the bombing. He was the bodyguard who had saved the child's life.

When Mr. Uchiha had grown in power, Kakashi Hatake's name followed in the background like a legend. No one had ever seen him; no one knew how he looked. And since Mr. Uchiha wasn't the most verbose person during interviews, he never really accepted or denied his supposed bodyguard's existence.

After years of speculation, the media had put forth many theories on how anyone could have survived the blast. The most popular one had been that the bodyguard and the young Uchiha had been in a remote part of the mansion, away from the central blast site. And when the blast happened, Kakashi must have used himself as a shield for the child, his state of the art body amour acting a further deterrent against the flames.

The man must have died in the process and the child lived on. And as most theories do, this one too raised numerous questions and inconsistencies, all if not most of which were unanswerable.

Kakashi was, possibly, even more of an enigma than the Uchiha heir himself. And to see him here now, in the flesh and holding his hand, was surreal.

The man smiled, he looked so much more friendly and laid back than Naruto had ever imagined. When Naruto shook his hand still blinking, he continued, "You must be Naruto. I've heard a lot about you". His jaw dropped. _He knew him?_

His eyes automatically went to the Uchiha, who had to have been the only person who could have told Kakashi about him. _But why would he?_ Sasuke however, was busy glaring holes into the side of the other man's face, who was completely ignoring his boss and smiling at Naruto.

Naruto gaped, having no idea of how to respond to that. Kakashi seemed to take mercy on him and continued the conversation, "So, what's it like having Sasuke as a boss?"

"Um – he's –" Naruto was flustered. All the times the other man had molested him came to his mind.

"Friendly?" Kakashi finished with a knowing tone and raised eyebrows. Naruto felt his face burn in embarrassment. He could see Sasuke glower at Kakashi from the corner of his eye, looking fit to set the other man on fire.

Kakashi, for his part, seeming to take immense enjoyment in the situation and went on, "Did you know that this is not his first job?"

Naruto, having finally found his voice, blurted out, "Oh? I didn't know"

"Well, Sasuke has a lot of stories to tell"

"That's enough" Naruto jolted when he found himself pulled away from the white haired man. Sasuke had a tight grip on the crook of his arm. Looking up and to his right gave Naruto a clear view of Sasuke furious and glaring at Kakashi.

Kakashi didn't miss a beat. He looked at his watch, still smiling and said, "Ah, look at the time. Have to go now."

He turned his one visible eye on Naruto, it was crinkled in amusement, "We'll meet again Naruto." Immediately Naruto could feel Sasuke's grip tighten on him. Kakashi's eye darted to the hand clamped on his elbow and then, with a nod to Sasuke, he left.

Naruto saw the door start to swing close, and then yanked his arm away, rounding on his boss, "How does he know me? Did you tell him?"

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his face.

"I didn't have to"

* * *

><p>Naruto walked out of the cabin, and almost walked into Sakura. She reached out and righted the stack of reviewed documents in his hand all the while complaining about being summoned into 's office.<p>

"He didn't sound very happy"

"Yeah" Naruto looked around. The closest person was Shikamaru Nara, the office genius who also doubled as the office's languorous hippy, slouched at his desk with a perpetual bored expression on his face. It was like the man could not be bothered to even make an effort to dress proper. Even his clothes looked sleepy and bored.

As such, he seemed to be taking a nap right where he was sitting. And deeming it safe, Naruto whispered, "I met Kakashi Hatake"

She considered that for a couple of moments before her eyes widened, "**The** Kakashi Hatake"

Naruto nodded excitedly, "Just now"

"I thought he was a myth or something"

"Me too. But he's real. Much younger than I'd thought"

Sakura was grinning, as excited as he was, "You're telling me everything when I get back"

"Ok" Naruto whispered with a smile, "Be careful, he's in a very bad mood"

Sakura rolled her eyes heavenward, "He's always in a bad mood" then added with a smirk, "Except when he's with you"

"Shut up"

* * *

><p>Naruto however, did not get the time to regale Sakura with his meeting with Kakashi. He was called over and over into Sasuke's cabin and for the simplest and most inane reasons.<p>

He leveled his boss with a glare, which while not as potent as the Uchiha glare was quite enough to show how displeased he was. "You called me in here for a pencil?"

Sasuke nodded.

"You have spares right here in your desk"

Sasuke leaned back in his chair and smirked at him, "I can't find them"

Naruto considered arguing with the man, but then decided against it. It would only be a waste of his own time. He stepped around the desk to Sasuke's side and leaned down, rummaging around in the draw to find the elusive spare pencils. This put him in a position very close to the other man and Naruto could feel Sasuke's presence, imposing and solid right next to him.

But he wasn't touching him however and so Naruto let it pass. He reached further in and felt his hand close around the box he had been looking for when he heard a light intake of air.

"Did you change your shampoo?"

Naruto slammed the box on top of the table and left the cabin, not even bothering to glare at the other man.

* * *

><p>It didn't stop with that. He was called in many more times, to arrange some hard copies of records in alphabetical order, and then once more in reverse order, to find more stationery. Naruto took in all in stride, determined not to let the other man get the satisfaction of getting under his skin. This time around, Naruto was called in to take some notes. That was fifteen minutes ago and Naruto now stood in front of his boss, head averted to the side to a painting on the wall.<p>

He loved the painting, and made it a point to enjoy it any chance he could, imagining himself walking among the poppies. It was replica of Monet's 'Coquelicots La promenade'. Sai's artistic tendencies were one of the reasons Naruto had fallen for him, so glad to have found someone who enjoyed art as much as he did.

But now, he barely noticed the composition. The only thing he could focus on was the feel of Sasuke's eyes roaming over him. He gritted his teeth and turned toward the dark haired man, having had enough. Sasuke, instead of stopping, only spared him a smirk before going back to the mental undressing of his person.

"Do you mind?" Naruto gritted out.

"Not at all" Sasuke drawled casually, dragging his eyes over Naruto's legs.

"Do you even have a memo I have to take notes for?"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused before he started shuffling through the mess of papers on his desk, "I'm sure I can find one"

Naruto clenched his fists and walked out.

* * *

><p>Naruto left the office with Sakura, completely ignoring Sasuke's comment of giving him a lift, or anything else he might need.<p>

He invited her up and Sakura refused with an apologetic smile. She had too much carry over work from office, having been dumped with three people's worth of work. Sasuke really had been in a bad mood.

Naruto trudged up the stairs, suddenly drained of all energy after such an eventful day. The elevator seemed to be out of order, an often enough happenstance that it was now expected. He planted each foot on a step, using it to drag the rest of his body up. He felt so tired and sleepy. Which was weird since he usually seemed to never run out of energy. That was until he joined Hebi Corporations. Naruto supposed that his exhausting wasn't so strange after all.

His job took a lot out of him physically. And now, with Sasuke's sudden affections, Naruto was starting to feel the effort mentally as well. Seemingly out of the blue, the other man had decided that he wanted him. But he couldn't ask him out like a normal person. No, he had to take on a route of continual harassment.

Atleast now he had gotten him to tone it down. Although, Naruto was starting to doubt whether that really was the case. The dark haired man didn't take long to find a detour to harass him. Truth be told, Naruto felt a little guilty at having hit the other man. Intellectually he knew that he had not been in the wrong to retaliate. Sasuke had been taking advantage after all. But still, Naruto was not a violent person by nature and felt bad at having resorted to that.

He sighed and opened the door, dropping the keys into the bowl by the door placed for that very purpose.

Naruto froze when he heard a noise. He picked up a decorative ash tray from the same table by the door. He had for a long time griped at Sai for having bought it. It was a complete eyesore and hadn't come cheap, also a total waste of money since neither of them smoked. But Sai had liked the way light filtered through the material and that had been that.

Now, Naruto was glad it was finally of some use. He inched closer to the area from where the noise seemed to have come from, the kitchen.

There had been a recent epidemic of break-ins in the city. Strangely, nothing got stolen. There would be a mess left behind, things strewn apart, items broken, but nothing was taken. The whole endeavor seemed pointless to Naruto. Why take the trouble of breaking in if not to take things of value? Many people seemed to agree and the incidents were thought to be hate crimes or teenage vandalism.

He reached for the phone, to dial the emergency telephone number and pulled his hand back out of his pocket empty handed. He wanted to make sure that it really was an emergency and not some stray cat; though Naruto didn't know how a cat could get in an apartment several levels up and with all the windows locked.

He held his breath and peaked inside.

Naruto felt relief flood through his entire system when he saw that it was Iruka.

"Oh my God dad, couldn't you've atleast told me that you were dropping in?" The other man, unfairly, seemed to have expected him and looked much more composed than he was. Naruto clutched his chest, feeling it race with adrenalin, "I thought it was a break in"

Iruka chuckled and motioned for him to take a seat, shoving a cup of warm cocoa into his hands.

"I'm sorry about that. Just thought that I'd drop by"

Naruto looked at him worried, "Is something wrong? We just spoke on the phone today"

Iruka raised one eyebrow, "So it's either a phone call or a visit per day?"

He groaned at the signs of a familiar lecture coming up, "You are welcome to call me and / or visit me any time you want"

The man chuckled again and ruffled his hair.

He was half way done with his drink before he tried again, "So, really. Is something wrong? You usually don't visit this late at night"

"Like I said, I just wanted to see you" he swirled the drink in his hand and continued, "with everything that's been happening." He glanced at Naruto, who caught the unspoken words. _Sai._" I wanted to see how you were doing"

Naruto wanted to argue with his adoptive father. Tell him that it wasn't the first time he was abandoned or betrayed and that he could very well take care of himself, but held his tongue. Iruka was only looking out for him after all. He should be grateful that he had someone who was worried about him.

So he simply nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>ReviewFavorite/Follow, let me know what you think.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **As usual, wonderful reviews. So thank you very much for the Reviews/Favorites/Follows.

**Ian Elliott:** Nice to hear from you again. Welcome back :)

Thank you **Myrto Crosszeria** for such an involved review. It made me happy :)

And another thank you to one of my favorite reviewers **bluebird11 :** Yes, Naruto was in part transferring his rage over Sai to Sasuke. That's almost exactly what had happened, so it's awesome that you noticed that. Also, I haven't forgotten about the business trip, though thanks for reminding me :) There's still time for that, The story has only progressed for four days (Wow, Only four!). This chapter would be the fifth day.

I have to confess that I pretty much make up the story as I go along, and I do that with all my stories... so I might make a few mistakes every now and then and forget something sometimes (Like when I put in Ino's name instead of Temari's). So, thanks for pointing things out.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Warning:** Implied SaiNaru

* * *

><p>The morning was pleasant. Iruka had made his famous pancakes with a secret ingredient that he absolutely refused to divulge and that Naruto knew to be a pinch of salt. Breakfast was an enjoyable affair with delicious maple syrup and equally sweet reminiscing.<p>

Iruka cut into a piece of pancake, "So, anything interesting at work?" Naruto shrugged, taking a big gulp of orange juice, before remembering. He hurriedly swallowed the juice and grinned excitedly at Iruka's amused face.

"I met Kakashi Hatake."

"Hmm?" Naruto chalked up Iruka's stricken expression to confusion and went on to elaborate. "You know, Kakashi Hatake. Uchiha bodyguard. Saved the life of Sasuke Uchiha –" Naruto stopped when he saw Iruka nod.

"He so different to what I'd expected."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded his head vigorously, feeling like a kid again. "He was really friendly too."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing much. He just introduced himself." He grinned, "He said we would meet again." Iruka chuckled lightly. They continued eating while Naruto gushed about Kakashi, until Iruka interrupted him out of the blue, "Naruto. Do you think Hebi is really the best place for you?"

Iruka must have read the confusion on Naruto's face and elaborated, "The work load is too much, right? That can interfere in your personal life." Naruto's excitement evaporated when he remembered Sai. He stayed silent and let Iruka talk. "And your boss is like a slave driver –"

"Sasuke's not like that. He's changed." Naruto hoped that he wasn't blushing when he saw one of Iruka's eyebrows raise. He wondered if maybe he had been too quick in defending Sasuke, and if Iruka would catch on to that.

He did.

"Why? How has he changed?"

Naruto struggled to come up with something, "He's – more –"and remembered Kakashi's words from before, "Friendly." When he saw Iruka open his mouth to say something, he jumped up from the chair, "Sorry. Running late." He gave Iruka a hug, "Gotta go. Talk later."

He rushed out, barely remembering his keys.

* * *

><p>Naruto made his way to the office, smiling nearly all the way. He wasn't sure what it was exactly that had put him in such a good mood. A voice in the back of his mind whispered that talking about Sasuke had been the reason, but he brushed it off before he could examine it any further. That was a dangerous path.<p>

The streets were busy with children making their way to school, with other office goers and many more assorted people. Being a regular walker, Naruto was even able to recognize a few faces and smiled. When he neared his office, Naruto saw a man standing under the shade of a coffee shop covered in bandages. He couldn't help but notice him, wondering how the man had gotten hurt so extensively and if maybe Kakashi had gone through the same thing.

He couldn't imagine how someone could throw themselves directly into harm's way to protect another. It amazed him. Belated, he realized that he had been staring for too long and smiled in apology, face heating in embarrassment.

Naruto entered the office in a relatively good mood, throwing a smile at Sakura when she caught his eye. He made a beeline to his desk, slipping the strap of his bag off his shoulder and prepared to slide into his chair. As much as he loved his morning walk to the office, Naruto loved sitting on his cushy chair after a long walk, with almost an equal intensity.

He sighed when the phone rang, alerting him immediately of the identity of the person calling him. His suspicion was confirmed when he answered it. This was really early, even for Sasuke. It was as if the man had been just waiting for Naruto to arrive. What he found most curious was how Sasuke even knew that he **had** arrived.

Naruto didn't even bother to switch on his computer and instead, simply picked up his notepad and pen and went into Sasuke's cabin. When he got inside, Sasuke held out a sheet of paper.

"Your tasks for today"

Naruto took it warily. When he got a task list, more often than not, it would be overwhelmingly difficult for him to complete it by the end of business. He scanned through it. When he briefly glanced at Sasuke, he noticed the other man scanning **him** in return.

The tasks were more or less regular ones, and were of a reasonably doable number. Though he fleetingly wondered why Sasuke didn't simply type the list and mail it to him instead of writing it down. He would have spent more time going through the list and getting any questions he had over with then and there, but the piercing stare he felt made him antsy.

Sasuke's attire for that day could only be described as grim. He was in all black – Black shirt, black slacks, a black jacket. Even his expression was grim. Naruto couldn't help but notice a folder that he'd never seen before, lying on top of the table. Even that was black.

"Is that all?"

Sasuke nodded, "Yes. I will be going out for some time, a meeting, and cannot be reached."

Naruto was confused, "A meeting? There wasn't anything scheduled. "

Sasuke paused before replying, "It's confidential".

That just increased Naruto's confusion, which dissipated just enough to notice Sasuke smirk suddenly and drawl, "Don't worry. It's purely business" He had gotten up sometime and was now leaning forward, "So you've nothing to worry about"

Naruto rolled his eyes in reply.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something else when a ping sounded through the room. Sasuke checked his phone and straightened up, hurriedly putting on his coat. Naruto watched, unbearably curious as Sasuke picked up the folder and turned around.

"How about a kiss for good luck?"

Naruto leveled a flat look at him, "I'll get started on the list"

Sasuke followed him out.

* * *

><p>Naruto rolled his neck from side to side after completing the current item on the list. The next task required a particular file, the only copy of which was with Sasuke. So, Naruto got up and made his way to Sasuke's office. The empty table greeted him when he got inside. It was strange seeing the room, now missing their owner. Naruto rarely got inside the office without Sasuke in it. He seemed like an important part of the whole décor. Without him something – just felt off.<p>

Naruto searched the table and found the file.

"Hello Naruto".

He nearly jumped in fright before smiling, "Oh. Good Afternoon, Mr. Hatake"

Kakashi chuckled, "Just call me Kakashi" Naruto felt a strange sense of déjà vu. "Sorry for barging in, I was just looking for Sasuke. Has he gone for lunch?"

"No. He's gone for a meeting."

"Oh." Kakashi's eyebrows rose. "What meeting?" It was Naruto's turn to raise his eyebrows when Kakashi went straight to Sasuke's desk and started rummaging through it. He looked through the pen holder, the files, the papers, and finally picked up something from under the keyboard. It was too small to see what it was and Kakashi placed the speck on his palm.

"Um. I actually don't know. He just said it was business." He then gestured to Kakashi's hand, "What is that?"

Kakashi smiled, "A tracking device."

Naruto blinked then laughed nervously at the joke. Kakashi held out his palm for Naruto to look at and continued, "To make sure your boss stays out of trouble." Naruto took a closer look at the thing and saw the tiny device resting on the calloused palm. Kakashi didn't seem to notice Naruto's shock and continued to speak. He took the speck between two fingers and held it out in the light, "Looks like it's not working."

Naruto did not know how to respond. But the other man saved him from the trouble when he said he had to leave. Naruto nodded and was about to leave too when Kakashi stopped him, his expression more somber. "Naruto, I need you to do me a favor. Could you not tell anyone about me?" Naruto nodded, still in shock that a tracking device was even involved in his day. "I like to keep a low profile."

Naruto blushed wondering if the man somehow knew about him 'fanboy-ing' about meeting him to Sakura and Iruka, though that would be really improbable.

"I – er – kind of already told Sakura Haruno and my dad" He blushed harder, "I'm sorry". Though Naruto hadn't told Hinata yet, he felt it would only be a matter of time before he did. Naruto figured that he might as well apologize for it before hand and had wanted to add Hinata to that list too, but didn't want to push it.

Naruto was anxious that his transgression might ruin the semi-cordial relationship that he had with the other man. But his worries disappeared when Kakashi smiled, "They wouldn't be a problem."

* * *

><p>A little later Naruto was having lunch with Sakura and brought up Kakashi's request. He left out the part about the tracking device since he still was not sure if the whole thing was real or a joke.<p>

"So, don't tell anyone about Kakashi being here ok?"

"Sure."

"Did you tell anyone else?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. She seemed to do that a lot. "No. Who would I tell?"

Naruto shrugged, wanting to tease his gossipy friend, "I don't know. Everyone?"

Sakura glared, "Well, I didn't. I figured the man would like his privacy if he was keeping his whole existence a mystery" Naruto felt a little sheepish after hearing that. He wondered why that thought never stuck him. He had been so excited after meeting **the** Kakashi Hatake.

"He seems like one of those eccentric celebrities." Naruto smiled at that, "Yeah. He is a bit odd, with the mask and all. Wouldn't that make him look more conspicuous? I mean, he basically has only one eye visible"

"Maybe he has scars from the blast. You know, I don't think anyone else in our office even noticed him."

Naruto's eyebrows joined his hairline, "That's impossible. He'd have had to walk right past them." Sakura nodded looking equally impressed, "He was an elite bodyguard. Maybe, he blends into the shadows or something."

They both grinned at each other, "That's so cool."

* * *

><p>Back at his desk, Naruto worked his way down the list. He noticed one task that had escaped his attention before, near the bottom of the list. It was scrunched in between the last one and the one before. He squinted, trying to make out the words.<p>

_'Dinner with Sasuke… with room for more'_

Naruto sighed and continued with his job.

* * *

><p>Sasuke came back near the end of the day by which Naruto was already done with the list. He was feeling pretty proud of himself at his speed. He entered the cabin just as Sasuke was taking off his coat. A flash of something shiny caught Naruto's attention and he felt his stomach flip when he saw what looked like a gun.<p>

Tsunade's words floated into his mind. Naruto dismissed it, not wanting to get caught in the paranoia and rumors. Sasuke opened one of the draws and put the thing into it. Naruto couldn't see what it was.

He handed over the list to Sasuke, "I've completed it."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow, "Everything?"

"Yes."Naruto glared, knowing exactly what he was hinting at, "Everything that's necessary."

Sasuke smirked, "And you decide what's necessary?"

"In certain cases, yes. I do."

The way Sasuke's eyes seemed to look amused just annoyed him even more and Naruto interrupted when he opened his mouth to speak, "What were you doing today?" If there was going to be an intrusion of privacy, then he wanted to repay Sasuke back in kind. Naruto honestly did not think that Sasuke would answer him, and was surprised when he did, "I told you. I was in a meeting."

"With whom?" Naruto vaguely felt like a carping housewife, but ignored it. He was the man's personal assistant, he deserved to know.

"People" Naruto glared.

"Well. Almost"

"What?"

"Nothing."

Sasuke smirked," Why the sudden interest?" He stepped closer to Naruto, almost touching him, but not. Naruto suddenly found it hard to breathe. There was open space on either side and behind, but Sasuke's presence so close in front of him made him feel like he was trapped. He also did not want to take a step back and look weak.

Sasuke drawled in a low voice, "Jealous?"

Naruto glared, "No. Kakashi wanted to know."

Sasuke demeanor changed instantly, "He was here?" He moved even before he could see Naruto nod in reply. He went to his table and lifted the keyboard just as Naruto answered his unvoiced question, "He took the tracking device with him"

Sasuke cursed. Naruto however, was surprised that it really had been a tracking device. He had told it, planning to play it off as a joke if Sasuke seemed confused.

"Why did he have a tracking device?"

Sasuke leaned against his desk and ran a hand through his hair, "Because he's nosy"

Naruto stayed silent, not completely understanding the situation. Sasuke rubbed his forehead, "There's just one more file you need to type up." He picked up one of the files on top of the desk and gave it to him. Naruto took it and started skimming the contents. He noticed Sasuke put the black folder from before, inside a draw. Naruto could tell it was the same draw as the other thing with how low Sasuke had lent down.

The return of Sasuke's grim expression made Naruto feel – he pondered, trying to come up with the right words and having to settle instead– not ecstatic. He chewed his lip, wondering if he was perhaps crossing a line by asking.

_Why would he put a tracking device on Sasuke? _It didn't make any sense to Naruto and he was worried over Sasuke's safety. _Did he think that Sasuke hadn't known about it? And would Sasuke be in trouble now that Kakashi had found out that Sasuke had found and removed it? But then ,why had he shown it to Naruto?_

Naruto's head hurt.

"Do you trust Kakashi?"

Sasuke looked at him, surprised. "I do" He paused, looking like he was considering whether or not to continue. Naruto, for some reason, felt glad that he did. "It's just that there are some things he doesn't approve of but I need to do." Naruto had a feeling that Sasuke wouldn't answer anymore questions. As it were, he was surprised that he had answered him so far. Naruto felt reluctant to leave with such a heavy aura hanging around the man however.

"Why does he wear a mask?"

Again, Sasuke's expression morphed instantly to that of a petulant child, "He thinks it makes him look cool"

"He does look cool."

Now much happier on having Sasuke glare at him, Naruto sauntered out to his desk.

* * *

><p>Naruto finished all his work for the day and went inside Sasuke's cabin to give the file back. Sasuke was busy, with the desktop screen turned completely away from Naruto. He didn't even look up at him. Naruto felt uneasy and wondered if he had made Sasuke angry. Then he wondered why he was feeling so unsettled. <em>It couldn't be that he actually missed Sasuke's attention could it?<em> Well, technically he had enjoyed Sasuke's polite company and friendly conversations… until that had somehow turned into sexual harassment and inappropriate comments.

He placed the file on the side of the table closest to him. " Mr. Uchiha, I'm leaving for the day." For once, Sasuke didn't seem even remotely interested in him and merely nodded, still staring intently at the screen.

The black folder was on the table.

* * *

><p>He had a feeling that he was passing off his uncomfortable-ness to Sakura when she dropped him off that day. She asked him several times if something was wrong. And even though he always smiled and told her that he was perfectly fine, she didn't seem very convinced. He stared at the side view mirror which showed a car that seemed to have been behind them for long time.<p>

Sakura exclaimed suddenly, "Hey. Is that invitation to come over still open?'

Naruto kind of wanted to be alone but, out of guilt and also in part wanting to have a nice ending to his day, agreed.

"Food is part of the deal right?"

Naruto mock sighed and agreed.

The elevator was as usual, out of order. With twin sighs, they started soldiering up the stairs. Naruto felt embarrassed. First he makes her his driver, then, he subconsciously pushes his problems on her, and now, forces her to climb a hill.

"I'm really sorry about this. I forgot about the ongoing elevator crisis."

Sakura smiled, "It's ok. I don't mind the exercise."

"I really don't think you need it though" Naruto was impressed at her stamina. She did not seem like she was even sweating. He could not imagine walking in five inch heels, let alone climbing stairs. Naruto glanced at her. And she was texting. He was sure that was a safety violation of some sort. Bored and wanting to get his mind off the unwanted workout, he started talking, "I can finally introduce you to Iruka."

Sakura said, "Oh" and looks surprised.

Naruto was glad to have gotten her to look up from her phone, "I haven't told you about him, have I? He's my adoptive dad." His triumph was short lived however, when she went back to typing.

"Who are you texting anyway?"

She shrugged, "Just some guy."

He snapped his head toward her, "A boyfriend?" He didn't really know why he was surprised at that. Before, he had simply assumed that she had been waiting for Sasuke to ask her out. But now, he wasn't sure. In retrospect, he should have been surprised if she didn't have a boyfriend. She was quite attractive after all.

Sakura laughed, "No. I really don't have time for a boyfriend."

That confused him. He was just about to say something when she stopped abruptly and looked up from her phone, "Naruto, I have to go. Something just came up." He gaped, floundering for something to make her change her mind, "We're almost there." He shrugged his shoulders, "Just have a cup of coffee and leave. I'll just introduce you to Iruka. That's all."

But she had started making her way down even before he had finished talking.

"Sorry Naruto. Another day. I promise."

He became worried. "Is everything ok?"

She was already two floors down and shouted, "Yeah Yeah. Nothing to worry about. Good night."

Naruto sighed, watching her make her way down, slightly impressed at her speed and ability to walk in high heels without tripping. He continued walking up and soon heard the sound of her car pulling out.

* * *

><p>He walked into his apartment, "I'm starting to think that I give off a repelling scent or something."<p>

Naruto had always had trouble forging new relationships. Even in school, kids simply avoided him for some reason. He had never understood why others took offense with him. On some rare occasion, some child would try and make friends with him, only to later on prank him and break his heart. Naruto eventually stopped telling Iruka about every new budding friendship since he wanted to stop breaking the bad news to him a couple of weeks later. He hated seeing Iruka's eyes look sad and disappointed.

His only success stories were Iruka, Hinata and Tsunade, two of whom had been under legal obligation to like him. He had thought that he had struck gold with Sai, having had a crush on Sai for a really long time before the other man had finally asked him out. His first time had been with Sai. It had been a big step for him.

Then, Ino happened.

And then Sasuke…

Maybe he should just give up on new relationships. He would never tell Iruka that, he would probably give him a six hour lecture on hope and persistence and rainbows and lollipops.

Iruka peeked out from the kitchen, "whom are you talking to?'

Naruto glared mildly, "Not you apparently.'

Iruka smiled good naturedly, "Well, maybe you should make sure I can hear you first."

Naruto said nothing and dropped himself into the couch. Iruka, probably sensing that something amiss, sat next to him, "What's wrong?"

He didn't want to worry Iruka over nothing. "Nothing. I'm just being dramatic." Iruka used his usual tactic to get him to talk. He raised both eyebrows and stared at him. It shouldn't work on him or for anyone for that matter, but it did.

"I think I might be being too clingy on Sakura and that I'm scaring her away."

Iruka's raised eyebrows came down together in confusion, "Who's Sakura?"

That was when Naruto realized that he hadn't told Iruka about her yet. He sat up excited, "Oh yeah. I haven't told you. She's my new friend."

"Sakura – ?"

"Haruno. Sakura Haruno."

Usually Iruka would get even more excited than him when it seemed like he was about to make a new friend, no matter how old Naruto got. But now, he just stayed quiet.

"Jeez don't get too excited."

That snapped Iruka out of what ever thought he seemed to have gotten caught up in, "No No. It's not that. It's just – well, it's hard to trust people these days."

"Iruka" Naruto chuffed, "You're being paranoid again." Iruka had a tendency to become suspicious of people at random times. It was overwhelming at times, but Naruto accepted the little quirk as part of the man's personality. After all, he had accepted Naruto for who he was.

Iruka, predictably ignored him. "Which reminds me about our conversation from this morning."

Naruto's eyes widened and he sprang up from the couch, "Wow. Look at the time. Feeling really sleepy."

Iruka grabbed his arm and pulled him down to sit on the couch again, "Tell me what you meant by friendly."

He smiled nervously, "It's nothing." Iruka's glare made him sigh and re-track. "Well, it's weird. He's got a little –" he glanced at Iruka listening intently to every word. "I think that maybe he might be interested in me – a bit – I think." Sasuke had given off every indication of definitely being very interested in him. But Naruto was very hesitant to tell his overprotective, paranoid adoptive dad every detail of those particular indications.

"What did he do?" Naruto inwardly winced at the way Iruka seemed to stress and enunciate every word of that sentence. He frantically looked around, searching for a way out or a distraction, biting down on his bottom lip when he found neither.

"He – kind of kissed me" The sentence ended in a rising lilt, as if in a question. Naruto squinted through narrowed eyes, waiting for the explosion of protectiveness that he was used to. But what he got was something else entirely. Iruka's voice was deathly calm when he spoke.

"I want you to quit that job."

He looked at Iruka, eyes wide in shock. "Wha –". His mouth opened and closed a couple of times, trying to grasp his mind around Iruka's reaction, "I think you're over reacting." Iruka's face was wiped of any and all expression. "I told him to stop and he did." After many attempts, but Naruto was sure that saying that would not help his case any.

"For now."

"Dad – "

"Naruto, This place is not safe." Iruka gestured around. "With everything that's happened –" Naruto continued staring at his dad in shock as the other man ranted.

"With what happened?" he asked timidly.

Iruka froze with eyes like a deer caught in head lights and stammered, "The job is too stressful. Takes too much of your time." He shook his head, "That's why you broke up with Sai. And now your boss is abusing you. And and – the break ins. Naruto, we need to move to another city."

Naruto strongly felt that the situation was spiraling out of control. "You're talking like a crazy person. Relax." He put his palms out in a placating manner, "Calm down. Start breathing." He kept his voice low, knowing full well that this had every potential to transform into a shouting match. "The job has a lot of responsibilities. I worked hard to get here and I am not going to simply give it up."

He was sure that he could reason with Iruka, "And I am not just going to give it up for my boss either. I'm tougher than that. You raised me better than that." He had to systematically rebut every problem that Iruka seemed to have, "As for Sai, that jerk cheated on me. He couldn't care enough about our relationship to keep it in his pants. End of story."

Iruka was worried about him. Naruto knew first-hand how rare, genuine affection was. It was his responsibility to assuage his dad's worries, "Break ins happen everywhere. The same kind of vandalism happened in the last place we lived in too, remember?"

Iruka placed both hands on either side of Naruto's face. "That's what I'm afraid of Naruto"

"You're not making any sense"

"We are moving away"

"No we are not" he got up. "I am not going to run away"

Naruto got up and went into his room.

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